Gleam of Silver V2
by Mulleb
Summary: A peculiar merchant and his daughter came to the Leaf under the gesture of trade. Yet he stole the Forsaken Scroll. Mistaking the thief as part of his test, Naruto chase after and was capture by the duo. Though Silver wished little harm to the Leaf. His only desire is to bring equality by spreading the use of chakra. Even if that meant undermining the shinobi villages' purpose.
1. Chapter 1

Hello readers! I know that it had been awhile since I worked on Gleam of Silver and I wish to apologize. I lost motivation to write it, decided to rewrite the whole thing from scratch, and then waited a little bit to post it. I promise however that this story is completely different from the last one and maybe better. The first chapter is similar to first story's chapter, but please read it to the end. Once you get past that part it's a new story. As always, enjoy the read.

Note: The picture used for the cover is created by ezalen on DeviantArt.

* * *

Chapter One

Birdsong and the rustling of leaves echoed throughout the forest of Konohagakure; the massive forest that stood guard outside the city's tall walls. Just inside the gate, two shinobi sat in boredom. One of whom was reading an Icha Icha book whilst the other polished his weapons. Pausing upon hearing the sound of someone singing, both guards leaned out of the guardhouse They stare down the road to be met with an interesting sight.

Singing aloud, two people sat on a wagon pulled along by a large Clydesdale bay. The young teen on the cart seemed to be a bit miffed. Her mint green hair alone could draw temporary attention, but it was the hairclip, the exact shade of orange as her eyes that kept it. Her caramel-colored skin offered a sharp contrast to the white short-sleeve shirt and pants that she wore.

Sitting next to her was the most strangely dressed man either shinobi had ever seen. His pale skin hid under a dark red suit, its tails resting underneath his butt. His pant legs covered the top of shiny black shoes, while a red top hat crowned his head of dusty white hair and a monocle sat over his silver right eye.

The shinobi exited the guardhouse and blocked the wagon's way, though once it was in front of them, they realized the wagon itself was an oddity. Constructed of weathered wood, it had seen many years. Evident from the fact that even the bolts holding the wheels in place were rusted. Yet, there appeared to be no visible entrance into it. It was just a great big box on a set of wheels.

Taking his hat off, the driver bowed to the pair of shinobi. "Good afternoon gents. Do you need anything?"

"Just to check who you are," said one of the shinobi.

"Ah, I am but a humble merchant who wishes to sell his goods here…" The merchant reached over and patted the vedette on the head. "…And this girl here is my daughter."

"Father," grumbled the girl, "I told you I'm not a dog."

Wrapping an arm around her, the merchant yanked her into a hug. "But you're so lovable! I'm surprised a passing kami hasn't snatched you up yet."

"Excuse me, sir," said the other shinobi, "but do you have a passport?"

Letting his daughter go, the merchant waved a hand. "Yes, yes. Give me a moment." He took his hat off and reached inside of it. Yanking out a pair of books, the merchant tossed them to the shinobi duo. "There you go."

Catching the two passports, the Shinobi opened them and frowned, glancing between father and daughter. "…Silver Dollar the Third and Fu Dollar…?"

"That's us." The girl named Fu jabbed a finger at her chest.

"Where the hell is the Confederacy? This can't be real." The words had just left his mouth before a loud whack sounded. The shinobi, now rubbing the back of his head, stared at the merchant.

Cane gripped firmly in hand, Silver waved it over his head as he shook his fist. "You dare insult my home country? Granted, it is hundreds of miles away from here, but it is real all the same!"

"Sir, put your cane away before I haul you to jail. Assaulting a loyal shinobi is a criminal offense in this village."

Huffing, the merchant placed his cane onto his back. "Sorry, my good man." He offered a grin. "The past few days have been rough for me. You see, my little girl and I have been attacked by rogue men and forced into a rather uncomfortable position."

"That and my dad is a bit of a nut case." Shrugging at her father's glare, Fu flopped onto her back. "It's true."

"Well." The shinobi handed the passports over. "Everything seems in order." Silver took the passports and placed them back in his head. "Interesting jutsu you got there."

"My family taught it to me."

"And your daughter?"

"Neither of us are shinobi. We just know a couple jutsu to keep us safe." Leaning over, Silver patted his horse on the back. "Isn't that right, Rubric?" Chewing on the grass, Rubric snorted. "You're quite right; we must get going. Need anything else gentlemen?"

"What are you selling?"

"Exotic items and merchandise… luxury mostly."

"Behave yourself and there will be no problem." Bowing to the Shinobi, the merchant got Rubric moving again.

Sensing no more shinobi about, the vedette snorted. "Really Father; did you have to hit the guy?"

"He was accusing us of being liars." Looking about, the merchant grinned at the multi-story tall buildings as a steady flow of people explored them. "I've never told a lie…" That got a snort. "…I never will."

"Keep telling yourself that." Sitting up, Fu rested her chin on one of her hands. "So, when do we get started?"

"We first need to find a busy intersection; preferably somewhere that a lot of people will pass by." Yanking on the reins, Silver brought the Clydesdale to a stop. "This place will work as well as any."

Nodding, Fu slipped off of the wagon. Silver leapt off as well, reaching over his shoulder to take his cane off his back. One whack silenced the people around him. A second one drew their attention. The third caused the wagon to glow a faint blue. The wood stretched outward and upward, a large window forming in the front while a door took shape in the eastern wall. Carved into the door were two overlapping coins.

Silver leapt onto the wagon, permitting people to peer inside as plenty of items caught their attentions. Pikes, swords, and flintlock guns leant or hung on the walls alongside pictures. A series of shelves sat on top of cabinets while grinning bejeweled skulls shared their space with well-made artistic cups and vases. A shelf above those, a figure depicting a naked woman dancing on a shell was displayed next to a jeweled necklace, accompanied by neatly folded shirts. Weapons, clothing – both fancy and practical – paintings, photos, jewelry, statues, cooking wares, spices and many more trinkets sat there; most of which the crowd of people had never seen before.

The merchant leaned dangerously on his cane over the edge of the wagon. A smile forming on his face as people started to gather inward. Civilians and shinobi alike stared at the wares.

"Do you people like what you see?" asked the merchant eliciting a general yes from the crowd. "Would you buy it if I sold it to you?" Hearing the affirmative response of the crowd for the second time, the merchant grinned. "Then step right up." The merchant almost kicked a shinobi in their head, leaping into the wagon through the window before a crash sounded. "Ow, misjudged the distance."

Silver's arm grabbed hold of a plain white apron and a round, flat straw hat. "Give me a moment." Seconds later, the merchant hung his jacket and hat and stood up wearing his new wares. "Now, who will make the first purchase?"

"Hold up a second." A young kunoichi stormed up to the wagon. Her purple hair had been pulled back into a ragged ponytail while her tan trench coat sat on top of a fishnet shirt and an orange skirt. Around her head she wore her headband depicting a leaf; the symbol of Konoha. Chewing on a stick, she took it out of her mouth before flicking it at Silver. "Are you allowed to sell here?"

"Do I need permission?" The merchant's eyes roamed over the kunoichi's body, taking note of her rather ample chest.

"You need to go through the merchant's guild."

"Maybe later. You're a shinobi, correct?"

The kunoichi tapped her headband. "Aren't you sharp?"

"Do you need a new weapon to fight with?" Darting under the counter, the merchant yanked out a roll of cloth. Placing it on the table he unrolled it, displaying the large variety of knives tucked into place by straps of cloth. "I've got everything from the standard kunai to the most exotic of blades."

Biting down on the stick again, the kunoichi pulled a knife out by its wooden handle. "What's this?"

Silver took the blade and traced his finger across the curved back of the bone knife. "This is from a tribe of people who refused to use metal; something about it being evil. Yet they know a method of using chakra to reinforce the bone, hardening it to point that it might as well be steel."

"How much?"

"18460 yen."

"How about 15000?"

"18400."

The two went back and forth, haggling for a while.

Clapping his hands, the merchant offered a stern grin. "17500 yen and that's my final offer. If you won't take it, enjoy traveling half the world to get it."

"Alright." The kunoichi placed her money on the counter, trading it for the knife.

"Thank you. Do you plan on bloodying that blade?" Licking his lips, the merchant grinned. "That would be a sight to see."

"Don't know. That depends whether you plan on seeing the other merchants by tomorrow afternoon or we'll see exactly how well this blade you just sold me works."

Waving a hand, Silver nodded. "Yes, yes. Move along and let me see my other customers." With a shake of her head the kunoichi left. Leaning out of the window, the merchant glanced to his daughter as she sat on the road, playing with a ladybug. "Oh little miss; aren't you supposed to be doing something?"

With a sigh, Fu reluctantly rose. "Where can I get a bucket of water and hay?" A helpful man pointed the correct way out to the vedette. Thanking the man, Fu patted Rubric on the neck. "I'll go get your meal so just stay put alright?"

* * *

So far, the young blonde was having a decent day. He started his day a bit late and ate his way through several bowls of ramen. Feeling little need to go to the academy, Naruto stared at the Hokage Mountain for a while before a light bulb went off in his head. Grinning as he grabbed several buckets of paint, he couldn't resist chuckling to himself as he put some "decorations" onto the faces. The fact that it took several hours for anyone to notice these "decorations" never failed to amaze him.

Running through the streets, the spiky-haired blond let a smirk spread across his whisker marked cheeks as his sky blue eyes glanced behind him. A pair of shinobi chased after him. They were running as fast as they could but at the rate they were going, they would never be able to catch him. It wasn't just that they were slower than him. Naruto just knew these streets better and was more than willing to use that knowledge to his advantage.

Turning the corner of a fence, the blonde ran around it before slamming into a mass. With an uff, the pair fell onto the ground as sprays of water fell on the blonde boy.

"What the hell?" A pair of hands shoved him off. "Are you blind?"

Offering a wide grin, the blond scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry, but I'm running from a group of men."

"Why?" Standing, the vedette with a startling set of orange eyes stared at the blond.

"I pulled a prank and some guys didn't take it so well." Glancing over his shoulder, he gulped at the sound of approaching feet. "Can we hurry this up? These guys are going to beat me up if they catch me."

"Can I see this prank for myself?"

"Sure. Anyone in the village can."

Fu grabbed Naruto, tucking him under her arm and, before the blond knew it, they were a dozen feet in the air. He caught sight of a pursuer, probably startled that someone dared to help the little blond. The ground rushed up as his butt slammed into it.

"Over here!" The vedette darted over to a bunch of bushes. Biting his lips, the blond glanced to the fence.

"This is the best you can think of?"

"Nope. Now shut up and wait for the shinobi to come."

Plowing their way into the bushes, they crouched down, settling just in time for the pair of chūnin to jump the fence. The pair glanced over to the bushes and made their way over at a slow walk as one of the two commented that a demon must be insulting them.

The blond wanted to run, but the vedette held him down by the shoulder. Just as they reached the bushes the Shinobi yelped. Their hands batted away at their legs. Confused the blond sniffed the area, catching the faint scent of ants before a large army of said insects pooled around the shinobi and assaulted their feet.

"No way the brat can be in those bushes," said one of the shinobi. "He'd be eaten alive in a matter of seconds!" The duo retreated still brushing away at their pants.

Chuckling, the vedette stood up. "That should do it."

"You summoned those ants?" asked the shocked blond. He'll admit that he was surprised; although not so much by the ability to summon insect for there was a clan in the village that also controlled bugs. It was the girl's helpfulness that caught him off guard.

"Nope. There was already an ant hill here; all I did was ask for help."

"Really?" asked the blond. The vedette gave a curt nod. "Neat. So you can command bugs?"

"Yep." Smiling, she walked into the lot. The blond, trusting the stranger after her display of generosity, followed. "Those guys were lucky though. I know where to get legions of army ants. Nasty bugs. They can rush a horse and strip its flesh in five minutes flat."

The blond's eyes grew wide. "You're joking, right?"

"Hardly. I've watched it with my own eyes. Now, where is this prank you're talking about?" Leaping on top of the fence, the blonde pointed to the mountains. Fu pulled herself up to peer over and grinned. "You're kidding? How much time did it take to make that?"

"Several hours before dawn."

"And no shinobi bothered to look up?"

Grinning, the blond plopped onto his butt. "For some of the greatest shinobi in the world they were completely blind to it."

Chuckling, the vedette climbed over the fence. "Well, this was fun and all, but I need to get back to work."

"At what?"

"Feeding and watering my horse."

"Want help?" The blond landed beside the vedette. "I've got nothing important to do at the moment. Think of it as thanks for helping me.

The vedette grabbed a nearby bucket, shoving it into the blond's hands. "Fine. Though I would have forced you to help me any way. You knocked me over!"

Giving a lopsided smile, the blonde scratched the back of his head. "Sorry about that. You already know my excuse."

"Fu." With that said the vedette started moving away.

Blinking, the blond dashed after her. "Pardon?"

"Fu Dollar. That's my name. Yours?"

Naruto jabbed a finger at his chest. "Uzumaki Naruto, the future Hokage!" He gave Fu a quick sniff; she had a scent that reminded him of wet earth.

"Genin?"

"Not yet, but I will be soon."

The pair walked to a spigot. While Naruto chatted away about several different topics, Fu leaned on a nearby wall. She did her best to ignore all the stares tossed in her directions. Due to her exotic body features she was used to an odd stare or two. Yet it had been ages since she felt like she received a stare that felt like it separated her from her personhood.

"Hey Fu!" Naruto slapped a hand across the vedette's shoulder. Twirling around, she punched him in the arm. "Hey! I was just trying to get your attention. You spaced out there for a moment."

"Didn't mean you had to slap me!" Rubbing her shoulder, the vedette pouted. "What's so important?"

"Why do you have a horse? Do you travel often?"

Rolling her eyes, Fu opened her mouth, but before she could answer his questions an unfamiliar voice cut her off.

"Hey kid." Tensing up, the blond glanced over to something behind Fu. She followed his gaze and resisted the urged to form a fist. A small group of men had formed around them. Based on their clothing and rough hands, she guessed that they were part of the working class of the village. "Is the brat bothering you?"

"Whiskers was just being an idiot. He'll be more careful next time."

"Yeah." Naruto chuckled uneasily. "I wasn't thinking… Wait! Whiskers?"

The vedette poked the blond on the cheeks. "You got whiskers. Whiskers a fine name. Now, stop the talking and get a move on with the water! My father is going to be upset with me."

Grumbling, the blond nodded, darting away with the full bucket wrapped snugly in his arms as his eyes glanced to the group of men behind them. He tried to make sure Fu missed it, but unbeknownst to him, she saw it regardless. Although instead of prying any further, she chose to start chatting about her travels with her father. She reminisced over the times that they had seen the heights of the Land of Lightning's mountains and the adobes of the Land of Wind, as well as everything in between.

Watching as Naruto set the bucket in front of him, Rubric started to drink the cool liquid after giving the blond a nudge on the shoulder. As this happened, another customer left, satisfied with their buy. Leaning out the window, the merchant clicked his tongue.

"What took you so long?" Silver jabbed a long finger at the horse. "He was about ready to run off for water."

"Sorry about that." Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto gave the best smile he could and prayed for the best. "I ran into her and knocked the water out of her hand."

"Oh." The merchant jumped out the window and offered the blond a hand. "Thank you for helping my daughter. You appeared to be a bright lad."

Though a bit stunned by the compliment, the blond's grin widened. "Gee, thanks!"

"What's your name, young man?"

"Naruto."

"Naruto, I need someone to show me around town. I'm new in the area and I plan on seeing the sights. Care to give us a quick tour? I'll pay you a little something for your trouble." The blond opened his mouth.

"Naruto!"

Yelping, the blond made a run for it, but a shinobi appeared right behind the young man. Wearing the standard Konohagakure shinobi outfit, the scarred man picked Naruto up. Naruto tried to struggle, but the man kept a firm grip.

Iruka-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto. "I was just helping these guys out and got distracted."

"For two hours!" Shaking his head, Iruka smiled at the merchant. "Sorry about this. He can be a handful at times."

"But he was helping," said Fu. "Even if he did cause trouble."

"Hey!"

"Iruka-sensei?" The merchant hummed. "You're a teacher."

"I am." Placing Naruto down, the teacher shook his head. "And this is one of my less attentive students. He didn't do anything to you then?"

"Haven't known him long enough for him to."

Sighing, Iruka walked off. "Have a good day." Dragged along the blonde shouted, complaining about having a right to freedom of movement.

"Well that was interesting." The merchant returned to his wagon. "Fu, where is Rubric's food?"

"After I get it, can I explore the town?" Fu glanced to a tall area in the distance. "I would like see what this place has to offer."

"Food first."

Leaning on the window, the merchant offered the next customer a smile. "Welcome to my humble store. What can I give you today?"

"I can give you advice: stay away from the boy."

"Why? Is he a troublemaker?" Glancing to the mountain, the merchant smirked. "Though if that the extent of his misfit, then I see no reason not to reproach him."

"Trust me, merchant. You don't wanna know."

"Why?"

Biting his lower lips, the villager looked away. "Just trust me on this: that kid is more then he appears to be."

Shrugging, the merchant turned around. "Whatever you say, my friend. Now, what would you like to buy?"

* * *

Naruto ignored Iruka's lecture the best he could. Yes, he understood that his grades would be better if he stayed in class though he kept them about average. Why did it matter anyway? Knowing the different clans of the village or why they carve faces in the mountain was unimportant, when the time came for him to be a shinobi. A shinobi needs to be the fastest, strongest, and bravest guy around. How else would they achieve their goals? Especially considering his was to become the Hokage.

Though the blond did admit that to become the leader of the village, he had to pass this year's graduation test as he took a seat at his desk. While Iruka lectured, he let his thoughts wander to how easy it would be to pass this year's test. He was certain he'd pass the written portion and the substitution and transformation Jutsu were in the bag. Creating the clones would be difficult, but he was getting help.

Once class ended the blond went straight home. His plan for the evening was to practice his clone Jutsu for as long as it took to master it. He paused outside his apartment complex; the old building was worn but still standing. An ominous air surrounded it.

Gulping, the blond climbed to the top of the complex and paused outside his door. Looking the door over, he checked for anything broken and sighed with relief. It was locked and free of marks. It seemed that the civilians had avoided his house today; though a shinobi could've easily snuck in.

The blonde pushed the door open and peered in. Seeing everything in place, he sniffed the air. All scents remained the same. With a shrug he entered the room with a large smile.

"Well, time to eat some ramen." Going into his kitchen, the blonde heated the water while placing the cup of ramen on the table. After he poured the boiling water in, he cupped his hands. "Alright. Three minutes and I'll be-"

"Bleeding profanely on the floor and begging to be killed?" A sharp edge pressed against the blond's neck. "That can be arranged." Tensing up, the blonde cursed himself. How could he have missed the smell of dango and snakes? He offered the purple haired kunoichi a smile. She had a bone knife in her hand.

"Hey Anko, I thought you wouldn't be here for another day."

Swiping the ramen off the table, the kunoichi marched over to the window. With a foot she held Naruto back. He begged Anko for mercy, but the ramen flew out the window. Collapsing onto the floor, the blond whimpered.

"My ramen!" The blonde jabbed a finger at the kunoichi in an overly dramatic way. "You're an evil woman."

"And you're going to be a shrimp all your life if you eat nothing but ramen." Putting the knife away, the Kunoichi marched over to the counter carrying a bag filled with groceries. "Now, knowing you, you haven't cooked a single homemade meal since I've been gone. Instant ramen doesn't count. I just got back from a hard mission and would rather sleep it off then be here so you're going to have a simple meal of rice and vegetables."

"Fine." Dragging himself back to the table, Naruto sat down. A smile appeared on his face as he set up. "I've been working on my jutsus! Mostly on my clones, but I also worked on my summoning; got plenty of throwing practice in and study as of late."

"Good to hear." Anko got out a rice cooker and pan. "You should also work on your cooking; come to think of it, I need to drop you off in the Death Forest sometime. Should help that ramen habit a bit. I'm not going to act like your mother all the time."

"When do you?" Naruto grinned as he ducked the salt shaker that Anko threw at him.

Anko may be slow to show it, but the blond knew she cared for him. Three years ago, she severely punished a group of adults bullying him. She asked where his parents were and when he stated he had none, one thing lead to another and here she was. Though she was away from the village more often than not, whenever she had the time, she would often come over to train him.

Of course, now was the time to badger the kunoichi for all the details of her mission. "So what did you do this time around?"

"Nothing special. Hunted down a group of mercenaries. Took a few days longer than I thought it would but it worked out fine."

Placing a plate on the table, Anko returned to the food to put it on the counter. "Serve yourself tonight. Besides marking our great leaders-" Naruto snickered, "-did you do anything of interest today?"

"I meet a couple of people who treated me like a person."

"Oh?" Anko sat down at the table.

"A girl name Fu and her father Silver talked with me." Serving himself, the blond returned to the table. "Might be nice people, but I don't think they'll stay around long."

"Right on that: Silver, the traveling merchant. I met them earlier as well; made quite a show coming here." Leaning in her chair, Anko smiled. "Though that just shows you that there are good people out there. You just need to keep an eye out."

"Yeah." Nodding, blond kept eating his meal. A thump drew his attention to a kunai embedded at the edge of his plate. "What?"

"Clone Jutsu." Crossing her arms, the kunoichi offered a wide smile. "Create two of them now or get chased by Muba."

Gulping the blond leapt to his feet. "Yes ma'am. Clone jutsu." Smoke filled the room. When it cleared two pale Naruto lay on the floor while the original chuckled nervously. "Well this work." That earned a sigh from the violet-haired jōnin. "Hey! I had been begging you to teach me a substitute for this!"

"I know and I'm still trying to get permission." Twirling a kunai with on her finger, Anko glared at the ceiling. "But I'm trying to convince people to teach an academy student to use a forbidden Jutsu. No offense Naruto, but you haven't given them much of a reason to do so."

Puffing out his cheeks, the blond crossed his arms stubbornly. "Even if I summoned a snake?"

"Yes, even if you summoned a snake the size of my arm." She waved a hand. "Now sit back down and eat. After that we can talk about training." Nodding in agreement, the blond resumed his meal. He would pass this test and he'd make Anko proud.

Naruto wanted to punch something at the moment. Up to this point, he did everything right. He went through the exam, replaced himself with a log and even transformed into his teacher. Yet his two clones lay dead on the ground: Pitiful and useless.

"Come on, Iruka," said Mizuki, "give the kid a break. He did create two clones and they might just distract the enemy long enough."

Sighing, Iruka shook his head. "It's a tough call, but we can't allow anyone who isn't ready to get through."

"But he had training with Anko and I heard that he can summon snakes."

"Well." Licking his lips, the scarred teacher shrugged. "I'm afraid to say it, but we're going have to postpone on the decision."

"Come on, Iruka-sensei!" exclaimed Naruto.

"I and the other teachers will talk on it. Once your final score is graded, we'll round up the result." Grinning, Iruka stood. "If you did well enough, then you'll become a shinobi. We'll tell you as soon as possible."

With a sigh the blond exited the school before walking over to the large tree and sitting on the swing. Where he stayed for a while, ignoring the parents and graduates who came and went with some of them commenting about his lack of a headband and how it was probably a good thing. Yet, these comments didn't bother him as much as Anko's potential opinion of this postponement.

Naruto promised her that he'd pass this year. He liked to think that he was one to keep his promises. Sure, Iruka may give him a fair shot, but he had his doubts of the other teachers. As he sat there idly swinging, lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice as Mizuki sidled up behind him.

* * *

Storming out of the tavern, the merchant waved over his shoulder. "It has been a good night; hope you all have a good life." Silver, squinting as the full moon offered him a source of light, strolled through dark streets.

Humming, the merchant thought back to his past few days. He had sold plenty of items to the villagers and retrieved just as much cash. It saddened him a bit that the blond never took him up on his offer. Yet his tour of the town had been nice, if a bit dull. Honestly, the village could go for a few more gambling halls. Overall, he could only see himself passing through.

At least that makes Silver's chores easier. His humming morphed into a sharp whistle. A trashcan nearby had been knocked over, but the darkness remained still. The merchant strolled toward the Hokage's Tower noting that the cylindrical building walls served only to separate it from the rest of the village.

A couple of shinobi stood guard at its entrance. "Sir." One of them stepped forward. "You need to leave; the Hokage's Tower is close."

"I know." Stepping forward, the merchant pressed a hand into the shinobi's stomach. Grunting, the shinobi glanced down to see a needle withdrawing from his gut. "That's why I came now."

The other shinobi started to move, but a wolf leapt out of the shadows, slamming into the guy's back, forcing him onto the ground. Before he could scream, Silver kneeled down and jabbed a second needle into his neck. Within seconds the grounded shinobi slipped to the next world.

Struggling to stay awake, the second shinobi tried to grab a kunai. "What d-did you do?"

"Tranquilizer." Silver stood and pushed the shinobi to the ground. "Don't worry. You'll see your family again, though I doubt you'll remember any of this." The shinobi opened his mouth, but his body went limp and he collapsed onto the ground. "Teruim." The massive black wolf glanced at the merchant as his tail bobbed and his golden eyes gleamed in the moonlight. "Open the door."

"On it." Teruim merged with the darkness seconds before the door opened up. "I can smell no one else inside."

"Of course not." Silver strolled inside. "The ANBU are only around when the Hokage is about. Keep to the shadows. If anyone tries to interfere I want them taken care of."

Nodding, the wolf became one with the darkness as Silver climbed up to the Hokage's office. The door was locked, but that was easily undone with a swift kick. Storming into the room, the merchant ransacked it. Anything that wasn't bolted to the floor, he moved to see what secret it might've been hiding. He tore down the pictures of the Hokage and found a safe behind the fourth. Reaching into his hat, Silver place a bit of gunpowder in the lock and blew it up.

By the time he finished, Silver swung the Forbidden Scroll over his shoulder. He also found a scroll with some odd kunai in the safe. He stuffed those into his hat.

"That should be of everything of interest." Strolling over to the window, the merchant opened it. "Teruim, shout if anything abnormal happens."

Just as Silver exited the room, Naruto entered via another window. Blinking in confusion, the blond scanned the area to see the second window open, swinging on its hinges. _Someone just broke into the Hokage's office!_ Naruto thought, his mind racing as he leapt through the second window.

* * *

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	2. Chapter 2

As part of my apologize here two chapters in one day. Again, enjoy! Rinnegan no Ozil helped with revising the chapters.

* * *

Chapter Two

It amazed the merchant how unguarded the interior of the Leaf Village was. Besides a few drunken shinobi he ducked out of view to avoid, the streets were clear of patrols. Granted, if one of the ANBU were aiming a blade at him he'd be headless in the next seconds. Yet he approached the village gate as fresh as he entered.

Leaning on the gate, Fu held Rubric's reins as the Clydesdale munched on his grass. Whacking a cane on the wagon, the merchant threw the stolen goods into it.

"Anything to worry about?" asked the merchant.

"There are shinobi on the wall, but they're more wary of outside threats." Pointing to the gate, Fu grinned. "Once we're outside and away we should be fine." She crossed her arms while frowning. "But are you sure there isn't a better way to escape? We did go through a lot of trouble to stay secretive."

Closing the wagon, the merchant hopped onto it. "I want them to come. We need to test the resolve of these people." Grinning in a manner similar to his daughter, Silver shrugged. "Also, it would be a bore if we got away without someone putting up a struggle."

"Father." Shaking her head, the vedette turned to the gate doors. "Don't blame me if we get killed." Slamming a fist into her palm, she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply as a red aura started to expand from her body. "Get ready."

Silver brought his hands together. "Whenever you are."

With a shout, Fu struck the gate. A crater formed in the door, cracks radiating out from it for several meters. Punching it once more, Fu stood back, watching as the gate crumbled.

Weaving foreign signs, the merchant kicked Rubric in the back. "Time Discrimination Jutsu." To anyone who watched the small group, they appeared to stretch. With a snap they zoomed forward and over the horizon.

Leaf shinobi froze when they felt a familiar aura. Many of them looked up as if expecting a monster to drop out of the sky. When the terror of their dreams failed to materialize, shinobi rushed to the last place that they felt the chakra from.

The first few shinobi to find the breach sent word to Hokage. From there the whole shinobi force was alerted to the news. Squads spread out throughout the village to find the invaders. Finding the knocked out guards at the Hokage tower, they checked the building. Their sense of urgency grew upon finding their leader's office raided.

Tracking teams launched from the village gates in search of the invaders, yet the more they tracked, the more confusing the trail become. Somehow, the enemy had traveled so fast that the scent was already faint. Knowing that to be impossible, the trackers returned their focus to the village. Days would pass before the Leaf realized that one of their greatest weapons had disappeared.

Falling off of the wagon, the merchant laid on the ground. "I think I'm going to die."

Fu kicked her father in the butt. "You have enough energy to set up camp." The merchant lay still, not moving from his place. Sighing, the daughter grabbed him under the arms "What's the point of your fun if you're too exhausted to do anything?"

"Hey, the bigger the challenge the greater the satisfaction" Brushing Fu's hand off, Silver stood on unsteady legs "Though I should be able to help out before getting a few winks in."

Opening the wagon, the merchant took out a single tent. The area they stopped in was far from ideal. Trees littered the ground with pine cones and straw. The slope of the ground rose at a steep angle. Creatures of the night chattered away.

After sweeping a spot clear, the duo set up camp. Rubric was tied to a nearby tree to graze. They set up a propane oven to cook their meals. Silver volunteered to do it this time around; cooking appealed to him more than sitting around and waiting for someone to come to them.

Sitting on the grass, Fu spoke with a dozen or so flies. When done with them she sent them off to the surrounding area. Holding a kunai in hand and placing a large red tube on her back, she patrolled around the camp. A loud snap caused her to pause. She searched for the animal, but found the area clear.

With a shrug she kept on walking. A buzzing sound had her extending a hand. Landing on a knuckle, the fly talked to her. Of course, the insect had no mouth. It instead used a series of weak chakra pulses that the vedette interpreted.

Fu frowned. "Father, you're not going to believe this."

"What?"

Darting around a tree, Fu shoved Naruto into sight. "An orange clad boy is trying to sneak up on us."

"Ow!" Leaping to his feet, Naruto held his hand out in a protected manner. "Do you have to do that?"

"Whiskers, why are you here?"

"My name is Naruto!"

"Oh." Peering around the wagon, the merchant waved a ladle. "Hey, Naruto. Odd to find you out in the middle of nowhere. Care to join us for dinner?"

"No! I'm here for the Forbidden Scroll."

Rolling his eyes, the merchant shook his head. "Can we wait until after dinner? I'm hungry." With that said Silver went back to the stove.

Fu sighed. "Ignore him. He has a hard time taking things seriously." The blond chuckled, but stopped when a kunai went to his throat. "Now, where is the rest of your team?"

"Team?"

"Yes, team. Where are they?"

"I came out here alone." Scratching the back of his head, the blond smiled. "You guys put a lot of effort into this test." Fu blinked in confusion. "I mean, we're dozens of miles away from the village. I guess that just goes to show how determined I am to become a shinobi."

"Father, are you hearing all of this?"

"I think our friend is confused." Lifting the pot off the stove, the merchant set it on the counter. "Invite him for dinner. It's better that we talk some sense into his skull."

Sheathing her knife, the vedette shook her head. "Care to eat something?"

"But I need to learn a jutsu before-" A growl emitted from the blonde's stomach and a shade of red as dark as the sun settled on his face.

"Come over here and sit yourself down," ordered the merchant. "Or I'll plant your butt down for you."

Grinning, the blond darted over to the wagon. "What are we having?"

"A stew made of meat, potatoes, carrots, and peas." Handing Naruto a bowl, Silver served himself. "So Naruto, what test are you talking about?"

A lump formed in the blonde's throat. He knew something was off when they left the village, but he hoped that it was another challenge. Smiling at the boy, the merchant gestured to the ground.

"As far as I'm concerned, we're still friends. Now sit down."

Nodding, the blond sat with the small family. "So if you're not part of the test then why do you have the scroll?"

"I have plans."

"And?"

Chuckling, the merchant patted the blond on the head. "Silly boy. Just because you're not a threat doesn't mean I'll spill everything about it." Silver ignored the glare and sipped his soup. "What I can tell you is that I mean your home little harm. Of course, if they get in my way I will have to use deadly measures."

"You're a rogue shinobi." Naruto flicked his spoon at the merchant and some soup leapt onto his jacket. Placing his bowl down, Silver grumbled about hyped up blonds. With a flick of a hand he summoned a handkerchief to wipe off the soup. "I can't just let you take the scroll."

"And do what, Whiskers?" Fu spoke between each mouthful. "You're an academy student. I tell you right now if you fight either of us you will die. You just finish your meal and run along. That the best you can do right now."

Gritting his teeth, Naruto wanted to scream that he could do more. Sure, these guys got into and out of the village with little trouble. That just meant that they're good at sneaking about. Yet Fu spoke with confidence in herself and her father. He thought back to his chase of the wagon with a grimace. Whatever the jutsu that they used was, it almost left him behind; it was only thanks to his nose that he managed to follow them.

"Naruto, you may take the scroll." Grinning at the blank stares, Silver set the bowl down. "Of course, I can't just let you run away that easily. Fu, chase him. Use everything in your power, but please leave the boy alive. I like him."

"You're just being lazy." Crossing her arms, the vedette glared. "You're the one groaning about having no one to play with."

"Yes, but as you said Naruto is nothing more than an academy student. To chase down his scrawny ass would be like shooting a tied up centaur."

Frowning, Silver stared at the void Naruto once filled. "Well, at least he's smart enough to take as much time as possible. Teruim! Leave the boy be. He's Fu's prey." Sighing, the vedette stood. "You know I'm exhausted. Have to save up energy and eat a cupcake." The vedette rolled her eyes before darting off.

* * *

The moment the merchant took his eye off him Naruto rushed to the wagon and ran with the Forbidden Scroll on his back. He had little idea where he was or where to go. First and foremost, his goal was to get the hell out of there. Courtesy of his prank victims, Naruto's speed outmatched any civilians' and quite a few jōnin.

The loud sound from the flapping of wings drew the blonde's eyes upward. Yelping, he rolled away from a sharp kick aimed at his head. He got to his feet when a fist slammed into his stomach. Blood spurted from Naruto's mouth as he rolled across the ground. Skidding to a stop, he coughed.

"Whiskers." Getting into kneeling position, the blond smiled at the vedette. A pair of green insectoid wings extended from her lower back. The giant container seemed to do little to slow her down. "Just hand over the scroll."

"I don't know why you're doing it and you don't feel like bad people" Grinning, the blond jabbed a finger at his chest. "But you want to steal this from the village. If I'm going to be Hokage one day then I must protect it secrets from rogue shinobi."

"Even if the people in that village hate you."

Naruto tensed up. The blond opened his mouth to answer, but Fu cut him off by slapping a hand over his mouth.

"Let's get two things straight." Pulling her hand away, Fu crossed her arms. "My father and I are not shinobi. We had never been part of a village. Second, you can also do far better than that village."

Growling, the Naruto shook his head. "I need to become Hokage!" The blond sprinted away. "And I'll start by outrunning you."

The blonde's ears perked before he ducked under a sweeping foot. Keeping to the air, the vedette rained down a barrage of blows. The blond dodged several when the fourth strike sent him sprawling across the ground.

Landing, Fu weaved signs with her hands. "Water Style: Water Bullet." Pressurized water slammed into the blonde's chest. At the last moment he spotted a thick tree branch nearby and traded places with it. While a confused Fu stared at the broken wood, the blond plastered himself behind a tree.

'I need something to keep her busy', thought the blond. A light sting had his hand slapping his neck. He glanced in that direction and frowned. A butterfly? The palm-size creature flapped it yellow wings with red lacing. The blond scanned it over and spotted a stinger at one end.

Pain flared in the blonde's neck and he screamed. He clasped a hand over his mouth and moved. The trunk behind him exploded into splinters. Cursing under his breath, the blond reached into the back of his mouth and bit down.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Naruto slammed his hand into the earth.

A huge snake, towering over the blonde, poofed into existence just as the blonde finished the Summoning Jutsu. The purple serpent hissed when Fu punched him on the snout. With a whip of its tail it sent the vedette flying into a tree.

"Naruto?" said the snake. "Where the hell are we?"

"Don't know! Just keep that girl busy until I'm out of here!"

Naruto got three steps when a swarm of those stinging butterfly appeared. The blond did his best to flee. Yet the butterfly assaulted his face, flooded his shirt and went right for his pants legs. Curling into himself, the blond tried to ignore the pain. A distant part of his brain heard his summoned familiar scream, but he cared little at the moment.

Then the next moment he saw Fu's smiling face. "Wow." Poking the blond on the nose, she shook her head. "You managed to run several hundred meters while being stung by my Refaga wasp."

"What?"

"Refaga wasps disguise themselves as butterflies to get close to prey. I bred this special variety to have a painful, but non-lethal poison with each sting." Tilting her head, the vedette hummed. "Odd. You should have bumps all over your body." Fu pulled back from Naruto's swinging elbow. Scrambling away, the blond scanned the area for anything that might help. "Give up, Whiskers. All you're doing is causing yourself more pain."

"No!" Fists out in front of him, the blond glared. "I will not surrender this scroll."

 _She's not leaving without the scroll_ , stated a voice in Naruto's head.

 _I know that!_ In any other situation, Naruto might have questioned the odd feminine voice in his head, but right now, he just want to get away with the scroll. _Got any ideas?_

 _I could lend you my strength._

 _Meaning?_

 _Just a little bit of chakra. Enough to free yourself of the girl._

Naruto gulped. _I think I'm allergic to the wasp poison._

 _Believe what you want, brat. Accept my offer or be beaten._

Taking a deep breath, Naruto relaxed. _Do I have much of a choice? I'll take it._

A chuckle rumbled through his head. The blond felt a rush of energy from deep in his core. Smile splitting his face, he lunged forward. The sudden boost of power confined Fu long enough for Naruto to knock the vedette over. Focusing straight ahead, the blond bounced forward, each step taking him closer to his eventual freedom.

The merchant suddenly appeared and a sharp pain went through his stomach. Naruto glanced down to see a thin blade piercing through his stomach and out the other end. Yanking the sword up, the merchant tore it out and kicked the blond to the ground. Naruto tried to sit up, but blood pooled from his stomach. A sharp prick hit him on the neck.

"Sleep boy." The merchant's voice was warm and tender. "You'll live to see another day." That was the last thing Naruto heard before darkness claimed him.

* * *

"Father!" Landing beside the merchant, Fu wings disappeared. She kneeled by the boy and grabbed him by the arm. "That was uncalled for!" Silver rolled his eyes as he grabbed and yanked the boy's shirt. Fu stared in amazement as the wound healed before her very eyes.

"You felt that chakra?" Pulling the shirt down, the merchant stood. "It would seem Lady Luck has smiled down on us today. Teruim." The wolf strolled out of the darkness at the sound of his name. "Care to carry this boy? I'll take the scroll off of his back."

"Think he's willing to cooperate?" asked the wolf.

Silver shrugged. "He's a child who can be persuaded." Sheathing his sword, the merchant placed the now complete cane onto his back. "In the meantime, focus on bringing our spoils home. As much fun as it would be to fight the Leaf, keeping this boy with us while fighting may prove difficult."

Nodding in agreement, Teruim took the blond onto his back. Once free of the scroll, he sunk into the earth. The father and daughter returned to camp andpacked up. The merchant decided that getting beyond the Land of Fire's borders was to be their top priority.

* * *

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	3. Chapter 3

Enjoy the read!

* * *

Chapter Three

Hiruzen Sarutobi, the acclaimed god of shinobi, third Hokage of the Leaf and a man of great patience was ready to throw the next messenger out the window. Sitting at his desk, the old man poofed away at his pipe. His wrinkled face gained a few more folds from the stress of the pass few days. His hand stroked his small goatee. Sometimes, he wished he could hang up the Hokage's robes he wore and spend a quiet evening with a cup of tea.

Of course, the Hokage needed to deal with the fact that some of the village's most prized secrets had been stolen. Once his room was cleaned the Hokage checked the true damage. The forbidden scroll along with several documents had disappeared. A frown formed when he checked the safe behind the Fourth Hokage's picture. It had once contained the fortune of the late Fourth, but as to exactly what it had been remained a mystery. Hiruzen agreed only to safeguard the treasure for a better time.

At that moment the Third listened to another report from a team of trackers. They're still uncertain to who dared to invade the village. The few foreign shinobi and kunoichi in town were cleared of all charges **.** Hiruzen toyed with the thought that an old comrade of his haddone something, but instantly scrapped the idea when the man demanded the head of the invaders.

Sighing, a billow of smoke flew from between Hiruzen's lips. "Your report has been noted. Retire for the night." The squad nodded and left the room. Leaning back into his chair, the Hokage closed his eyes.

"Lord Hokage!" exclaimed a pair of voices. A groan escaped the Third. Somehow during the madness **,** he managed to finish his paperwork. The next group of people were due the next hour. A frown formed upon seeing Anko and Iruka storming in.

"Anko, Iruka, what-"

"Naruto had disappeared!" shouted the duo in unison.

Slamming her fist onto the desk, Anko stared the old man down. "Tell me this is your doing? You wise up and thought it would be best for him to be stowed away in a safer place than here **?** " Stunned silence caused the kunoichi to hiss. "Answer me!"

Iruka grabbed the snake mistress from behind. "Settle down! We need to think about this."

"What we need is answers!"

Hiding his face behind entangled fingers, the Hokage closed his eyes. "Anko, I'm unaware of what you're talking about."

With a jab to the Iruka's stomach **,** Anko broke free. "Naruto hadn't been seen for days."

"Let me start." Pulling the snake mistress back, the teacher stepped forward. "After days of consideration, the teachers- at a narrow vote- had decided to let Naruto join the shinobi core. I wanted to be the one to tell him so I want to his house. First time around I just assumed he wasn't there. By the third time I knock I got worried and enter his house."

"Any signs of struggle?"

"Hard to say. It was a mess."

"Naruto had never been a good housekeeper," noted Anko.

"Finding no trace of him, I went around town and checked at all his favorite places that he liked to go to. I asked if anyone had seen him." Biting his lower lip, the teacher glanced down. "I heard stuff I disliked, but all of them confirmed that Naruto hadn't been around."

"Right around the time the scroll went missing." Huffing on his pipe, the Third shook his head. "Anko."

The snake mistress waved a dismissing hand. "Never had a reason to tell him."

"And as far as we are aware the boy's tenant had not made contact. Though I doubt even she knew about the scroll."

"Lord Hokage." Iruka stared at his leader. "Naruto wouldn't have the skills to break down the gate."

"Unless he got outside help," grumbled the old man.

"Lord Hokage," exclaimed Anko, "you're not-"

"I'm not accusing anyone." Resting his hands in his lap, the Hokage stared right through to their souls. "What I am saying is that it is odd that Naruto would disappear at the same time as the scroll. Maybe they're related or it's a complete coincidence. We need to find Naruto not just for his safety, but also for that of the village. Iruka, keep an eye on the village. Naruto may have never left these walls and it possible that he **is** hiding somewhere that we're unaware of."

"And me?" asked Anko.

"I want you to gather a team and search for my grandson." Tilling his head down, Hiruzen bit the inside of his cheeks. "If anything has happened to him **,** I will be unable to forgive myself." Bowing, his subordinates said their farewells. Turning in his chair, the Hokage stared at his predecessor's picture **.** "Why did you have to get yourself killed?"

* * *

Mizuki was in a panic. First the demon brat failed to show up and now someone else had stolen the Forbidden scroll with its secrets. Now half of the shinobi forces scrutinized the village. Of course, the hidden agent went on with his life as if everything was alright.

A paper ball bounced off of his head. Putting on a smile, he scanned the room of this year genin candidates. Most of them he considered to be little more than cannon fodder for the next war. The only kid he'd bet his money on was the last Uchiha.

While he sat down, Iruka stood and announced the teams. Mizuki zoned out to focus on more important matters. Any day now he expected his connection to come by. Biting the bottom of his lip, he thought back on how things could have gone wrong. Naruto was desperate to become Hokage- he held back a snort- so he would have wanted to do this. Based on the information he had **,** the idiot had little reason to betray him.

"Mizuki."

Shoving his hands into his pockets, the hidden agent gave Iruka a kind grin. "Sorry, I was zoning out there for a moment."

"We can leave now. The teams had been assign."

"Thank you." Mizuki left the school and made his way to his apartment complex. He ignored all of the shinobi scrambling throughout the city. Unless he confessed his plot **,** he doubted anyone would target him. Great care was given to leave no paper trail and only he and his allies knew of his plan.

Entering his apartment, Mizuki sighed. "Damn it demon. Why do you have to blow it?"

"You're the one who employed the boy."

Tensing, the secret agent scanned his living room. A small couch accompanied by a coffee table took up most of the space. A small radio- one of the few in existence- sat on a nearby counter. Green paint covered the walls while the wooden floor was covered in scratches **.** A humble room which Mizuki wished nothing more than to burn to the ground.

Yet he appeared to be alone. Though the voice and his own experience told him otherwise. Holding up his hands, Mizuki planted himself on the couch. A moment later a knife or a short sword –he couldn't tell which–went to his throat. He forced his eyes to stay on his radio.

"Let start with the obvious," said the voice. "Why did the blond abandon the plan?"

"As I already told you, the demon had no reason to suspect me. I was one of the few teachers that treated him well." Mizuki hated to cow before this man. Yet he was the weak one here. All thanks to Naruto. "Honestly, the only reason he wouldn't show up is if something else caught his attention."

"You said the boy was one track minded?"

Biting the inside of his cheek, the shinobi thought fast. "Maybe he ran into whoever stole the Forbidden Scroll." His eyes widen. "That's it!" The knife dug into his neck. "Listen. Naruto will do anything to become Hokage and due his lack of social contact with people **,** you could call him an idiot in a way **.** Although that's not to say that the demon is an idiot all around."

"Oh?"

"Think about it. It's unlikely **,** but if the demon did run into the thief, then he might mistake the thief as part of the test. He was gullible enough to believe me."

The knife fell from his neck. "So there's a high chance that an outside force derailed the plans."

"Most likely."

The contact flickered in front of him. Black robes and a mask shaped as a hawk hid his true form. His dark purple hands retreated into his pockets. The contact sat on the floor with his arms crossed **.**

This could be problematic."

"Meaning?"

"Two other hidden villagers in the last three months have been robbed of their secrets."

"Impossible."

"That is a word for the weak."

Taking a deep breath, the secret agent spread his arms across the back of the couch. "It's probably not inmy place to ask, but got any idea what going on."

"It isn't your place to ask." Standing, the contact glanced to the ceiling. "Your mission had change. For the time being, remain as the teacher at the school and watch as the event unfold. Who knows? Maybe our master can use this to his advantage." The contact flickered away, leaving Mizuki to plan his next move.

* * *

Warmth spread through Naruto's body. Sighing in content, he rolled over and snuggled into a soft object. He paused when something poked him in the cheek. Grumbles about annoying Anko escaped the blonde. The sharp poking kept at it.

"Anko." Swiping at the object, he pushed it away. "I know I'm probably late for school, but just a couple more minutes please."

"Sorry kid," said a feminine voice. "You got the wrong person."

Naruto's eyes snapped open as he turned around. Inhaling, he tried to shrink into the covers. A humanoid being towered over him. Dark blue skin contrasted with the green eyes surrounding slitted pupils. Running her clawed hands through her shaggy black hair, the monster tilted its head. Sharp teeth filled her mouth.

"You're finally awake. It took you-"

Screaming, the blond wildly sent an uppercut at the monster. Though when he hit it on the chin **,** it felt as if he had punched a rock. With a startled expression **,** the monster pulled back. Naruto leapt out of bed and darted for the door. He took a quick moment to notice that he was wearing little more than a hospital gown.

 _Where the hell_ _are_ _my clothes?_

"Kid!" shouted the monster. "You shouldn't be moving around so quickly."

The blond darted to his right where he was had plenty of well-lit hallways. Sniffing the air, he tried to pinpoint the smell of grass, dirt and fresh air. He cursed when all he got was the smell of fresh cookies.

A person stepped out of the door with a pan in hand and Naruto plowed into him. Yelping, the person and the blond crashed to the floor. Naruto sat up and the words froze in his mouth.

The guy's skin was a dark violet and he was wearing little more than a short kilt. "Good grief." Pulling long, choppy blue hair out of his eyes, the violet man grimaced **.** His narrow features made his face almost pinch. "Don't you guys know not to run in the hallway?"

"Stop that boy!" exclaimed the monster.

Darting away, the blond listened to the area. Plenty of people walking about. Walls had been painted with murals. Naruto took **a** little time to check them out. The monster stepped into his path.

The blond darted into the nearest door and fell flat on his face. _Does the universe hit me?_ A growl confirmed his suspicion. Scrambling onto all fours, he crawled away from a massive black wolf.

"How many times do I have to tell you people?" Snapping his fangs, the wolf marched towards the blond. "I want to be left alone after the mission!"

Waving his hands in front of him, Naruto shook his head. "I'm sorry, sorry, and sorry. I didn't know you were resting there."

"Not a moment after waking up and you're already causing trouble."

"Fu!" Naruto glanced to his right to see the verdette sitting on a cushion and book in hand. Diving behind the verdette, he shrank down. "I need help. There's this monster after me and now I got that dog mad at me!"

"Exlodor!" screamed the wolf. "I'm an exlodor."

"A what?"

"Fu!" The monster squeezed to the door frame. Naruto's eyes widened at the being as it stood at ten feet tall. "Sorry for the disturbance. He woke up suddenly and caught me by surprise."

"It's alright, Ivy." Patting the blond on the head, Fu grinned. "Whisker here has never seen a demon so he was just a bit startled."

"Oh." Shaking her head, Ivy turned around. "Well, I go and alert Silver that our friend is awake. Do take care that he doesn't run off."

"I won't." Sighing, Fu folded a corner of her page. "For someone who slept for a couple days **,** you have a lot of energy."

"A couple of days?" The blond scratched the back of his head. "What happened that…" His eyes widened as images of Silver's sword flashed into his head. Leaping to his feet, he scrambled backward. "Stay back! I can do some major damage if I want to."

"Whiskers-"

"Stay away from me!" Naruto spotted an open window to his right. Lunging at it, he screamed in triumph. It morphed to a scream of pain as electricity coursed through his body. He fell to the floor and stayed there for a moment.

Fu kicked him in the leg. "If you hold still for five minutes I will explain everything to you."

"Can I bite him?" asked Teruim.

"No, you can't bite him. The last guy you bit almost died of blood loss."

"It's his own fault for trying to skin me."

Popping up, the blond glared at Fu. "Okay, I have no idea what going on."

"Obviously." Fu shook her head.

"Mind filling in the details?Last thing I remember was that Silver pierced me with the sword. Not that I'm not happy to be alive, but this is odd."

Sighing, the verdette plowed down on the floor. "I would tell you, but then Father would get mad for not being letting him do the talking. Then again, I can't say I care. Basically, you are currently our prisoner."

"Okay." Humming, the blond glanced down at himself. "Why am I allowed to move around freely?"

"Because you're so small of a threat the weakest among us could kick your ass in." Laying down, the wolf grunted.

Jumping to his feet, the blonde shake his fist of the wolf. "Like to take me on **,** mutt?"

"Naruto, sit down before I hit you with my book." Grabbing the thick volume, the verdette brought it over her head. The blond gulped and sat down. "Now, you're going to be talking to my father soon. He means no harm and he just want to talk."

Sighing, the blond crossed his arms. "How much time do we have until he gets here?"

"Depends on his mood. If lazy, ten minutes. If on one of his sugar highs, it will be about ten seconds. Most of the time it's somewhere in between."

"I'm not lazy." Leaning against a door frame, the merchant pouted. "Stress can just tucker me out faster."

The blondclenched his fist. "Aren't you a liar? I thought you said you were a merchant."

Placing a hand on his chest, Silver offered an expression of mock offense. "Did I not sell products to people? I'm also curious to how you can insult me with only knowing me for a couple of hours." He tapped his chin. "Then again, I did plunge a sword in your stomach. Naruto, why don't we talk in a quiet place?"

The blond would rather jump out the window, but his previous attempt marked that a dumb idea. Standing, he walked over to the door and stood there. With a wide smile Silver waved for Naruto to follow.

Opening a door, Silver gestured for the blond to enter. Naruto stepped in with his fists ready at his sides. Yet only a low table and a couple of cushions greeted them. Closing and locking the door behind him, Silver sat on a cushion. The blond sat down and glared at the merchant.

"We already know each other." Leaning on the table, Silver offered a wide grin. "So let's hop over to the main point. I am not a rogue shinobi, but a humble merchant with a mission." The blond folded his arms as he frowned. "You see Naruto; I have traveled to various places on this great continent. Each one of them was, in their own way, incredible and enjoyable experience."

The merchant plucked off his eye wear and twirled it between his fingers. "But no matter where I went, I ran in a common problem. Strife."

"Strife?" Frowning, the blond scratched his head. "Like war? Last I heard **,** none of the nations were at war."

Snorting, the merchant slapped his hand against the table. "Then you're an ignorant boy. The Land of Water had suffered a civil war in the last few years. Minor nations fight skirmishes. Bandits, both normal and shinobi, filled the roads."

"So what?" Tilting his head, the blond frowned. "Bad things happen to people."

"Like an entire village being destroyed just because it too poor to pay ransom **?** " Silver opened his mouth to continue, but a knock on the door diverted his attention. "Yes?"

"I brought a fresh batch of cookies."

Silver eyes gleamed. "I'll be there in a second." The blond's eyes widened when the merchant vanished from his seat. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted the merchant bringing in a platter of cookies. "Thank you, Gane." The merchant locked the door and reappeared at the table.

Setting the platter down, the merchant shoved a couple cookies into his mouth. "Want some?" Crumbs fell from the merchant's mouth as he held a cookie out to the blond. "It's chocolate chip."

Naruto opened his mouth to deny, but one whiff and his stomach growled. Blushing, he accepted the cookie. The blond sniffed it and found it free of poison. He was glad for his strong scene of smell. From a young age he could identify people from several blocks away. It helped on more than one occasion to avoid people. The merchant smelled of cake and soap. A rather welcoming smell from a welcoming person.

Munching on the cookie, the blond grinned. "This is good."

"I always have them made after a good mission." Swallowing his fifth cookie, the merchant grinned. "Have any favorite treats?"

"Ramen." The blonde grinned split his face. "Best food in the world."

"I'm not sure if anyone here can cook ramen. Never had a reason to eat it." Shrugging, the merchant laid down on the floor. "Though I'm up to try anything new. Wish I could have stayed in the Leaf a little longer, but-"

"Can you get back to your point?" asked Naruto.

"Oh yeah." Grabbing another cookie, the merchant twirled it on a finger. "The thing is, I saw what can happen when wolves set down on the lambs. I wished to help people. So I had decided to become a teacher."

"What?"

"A teacher who would spread the ability of chakra to the land."

Shaking his head, the blond choked down a fourth cookie. "So let me get this straight. You stole from the village so you can teach some villagers how to use chakra." The merchant nodded. "But why would they need to protect themselves? There are shinobi for a reason." He thrust an accusing finger at Silver. "And you honestly want me to believe that you stole those scrolls to hand them out freely. What idiot does that?"

Silver shook his head. "Well, I see that proof will be in order. It's a good thing that we're heading home as we speak." Dropping his hat on the table, the merchant pulled a map of the elemental nations out of it. "We're going to the Land of Water, but before we get there **,** we'll be stopping in several villages. That would be a good time for you to learn."

Blinking, Naruto pointed to himself. "You want to teach me."

"Well, if you're going to be part of my group **,** you're going to have to pull your weight."

"I never agreed to be a part of it."

"Too late." Reaching over the table, the merchant yanked down on the blond's shirt to expose his shoulder blade. A black flame was tattooed into the skin. "That there, my boy, is a seal that Gane placed on you. For the time being, you are anchored to me." Silver raised his right arm and pulled down on the shirt sleeve. A flame sat upon his wrist. "I will know if you try to get away."

"And if I refuse to follow along?"

Shrugging, the merchant grinned. "We could always kill you."

The blond tensed up. As headstrong as he could be **,** he knew rebelling at that moment would mean certain death. Naruto refused to die here. Taking a deep breath, the blond stared down at his hands.

Will you force me to do terrible things?" asked the blond.

"If you mean like kill someone, no. In truth, all I want you to do for the moment is watch me and my group. Judge us by our actions. I hope I can win you over to my side."

Naruto snorted. "Doubt it." He gestured to his body. "Now, about my clothing."

"I threw them away."

"What?"

"I skewered you. Blood covered your clothing and after the beat down form Fu they developed some tears. It would be best that you abandon the clothing rather than keep them."

"So you expect me to walk around in a hospital gown."

"Certainly not." Appearing at Naruto's side, the merchant forced him to his feet. "Just a drab outfit that wouldn't draw attention. Then again,"- the merchant poked Naruto's cheek-", your blue eyes and blond hair would catch most people's attention. Add in the whisker markings and anyone can identify you."

"I know already." Naruto tried to pull away, but the merchant kept a firm grip on his shoulder.

"You're scrawny and short for you age."

"I'm not short!"

Silver yanked the gown up and the blonde felt a breeze between his legs. Two suns plopped on his face as he covered that area. Yet the merchant traced a hand along his bony chest. It pulled away to land upon the stomach.

"You appear to be malnourished. What have your parents been feeding you?"

"I don't have any parents," grumbled Naruto.

"Sorry about that. Why not?"

"Have you heard of the Nine-Tailed Fox?"

"I have."

"It attacked my village thirteen years ago. My parents died right when I was born to protect the village."

Humming, the merchant applied chakra to the gut. A slight, warm feeling brought the blond's attention downward. He opened his mouth to declare the merchant a pervert, but halted upon seeing a swirl and odd writing on his stomach.

"What the hell is that?" screamed Naruto.

"It appears to be a seal."

"For what?!" Pulling away, Naruto reached for his stomach, but the seal disappeared. "Did you plant something to make me explode or something?"

The merchant chuckled. "I can't do sealing. Far too complex for this idiot." Standing, the merchant shrugged. "Yet it is a curiosity. Something we can figure out once we're back home. For now, we're getting out of here."

"Here being?"

"You'll see when we go outside. Now follow me to the wagon. I've got plenty of clothing in there." Walking over to the table, the merchant picked up a few cookies. "Though we can go in a moment. I want to finish these."

The blond groaned. "I'll be out in the hall." With that said **,** Naruto left the room.

Staring at a cookie in his hand, the merchant smiled. _He isn't aware that the Nine-tails_ _lives_ _in his gut. Boy, you're going to give me some real entertainment._

* * *

 _Please leave a review!  
_


	4. Chapter 4

Enjoy the read.

* * *

Chapter Four

It stunned Naruto how fast every gathered outside the house. What surprise him more was the two story building they stayed in happened to be in the middle of the forest. The dark elf, as Silver called the violet humanoid, and the demon covered themselves from head to toe. The sooner activated a seal on the house. Much like Silver wagon the house shrink down onto itself until a family of birds could call it home.

Once they tossed the house into the wagon the group split up. Teruim and the dark elf disappeared into the trees. The remaining group walked toward the road and at a walk when down it. Silver started to sing a song about crazy dogs and their master. Ivy walked alongside Naruto while Fu caught a ride on the wagon.

"Nice clothes," said the demon.

Naruto sighed. A dark blue jacket streaked with red rest on top of a black shirt. Black jeans covered the top of his pants. He tried to find some of those red swirls his former outfit had, but found none.

"Thanks." Pocketing his hands, the blond looked away from the demon. Her long sleeve white shirt blended with the head cloth wrapped around her head. Blue pants legs tucked into boots while blue gloves protected her hands. Even with her odd feature covered Naruto felt a little unease around the demon.

"So do you have any hobbies?"

"Hmm."

"Hobbies." Snapping her fingers, the demon voice become monotone. "An activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure."

"I know what a hobby is." Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Though I would say that I like to train and garden."

"Train?"

"To be a shinobi."

"That's work," stated Fu.

"Not if I enjoy it," said Naruto.

"Do you."

The blond opened his mouth and paused for a moment. "I understand to be a strong shinobi that I need to train hard."

"Yes, yes." Ivy patted Naruto on the back. It felt as if a rock pounded him. "Can't say I care much for the former. I generally spend a lot of times doing puzzles. Crosswords, logic grids, disentanglement, and lock."

"What?"

Ivy opened her mouth to answer, but Fu cut in. "Careful. Ask question like those and Ivy is going to drown you with her dictionary knowledge."

"What a dictionary?" Naruto frowned at the disbelieving looks. "I never liked books all that much. They made little sense and are better use as fuel for fire."

Hugging her book to her chest, the verdette hissed. "Touch my book with that intention and you're losing an arm."

"Not that I want it anyway." Tilling his head, the blond stared at the cover. "What are you reading?"

"Something about an angel force to work with others," said Silver. "If I remember correctly, he was an assassin in a world similar to ours."

"You talk as if angel do exist." Naruto offered the demon a grin. "Then again, you and that dark elf guy are standing right in front of me."

"Hope I am." The demon picked at her clothing. "It would suck to be your imagination. No offense to you, but I like the idea of being an independent being."

"I doubt an imagination can give me a bruise."

"Silver." The group came to a stop in front of Teruim. "One the villages you wish to visit is up ahead. We went ahead and annoyance your arrival.

Clapping his hands, the merchant and his daughter leapt off the wagon. "Grand." He darted into the wagon. "Give me a moment to get ready." Ducking out of view, the blond could hear the ruffling of clothing. "There."

A figure spring up. His dark red kimono hanged from his frame. Tiny foxes chasing its tail dotted the robe. Though the merchant hide the top half of his face behind a fox's mask, the blond could see the mirth through the eyes holes.

"Greeting, young man." Bowing, the merchant filled his voice with warmth. "Care to help me with my quest today."

"Do I have a chose?" Naruto caught a mask. Cloth attached to the owl's face. "Wait, why the hell am I the owl?"

"Because nobody would expect a dunce behind a wise face," said Fu.

"Ha. Ha."

Silver handed the verdette a plain white mask. "Naruto, all I want you to do is stand by and watch. If you try to escape I will have you zap."

"In front of a group of people?"

"I can always say that you suffer seizures."

Grunting, the blond crossed his arms. "I'm curious. As long as you behave yourself I'll keep my mouth shut."

With a laugh the merchant slid through the window. "All I ask is a chance." Closing the wagon, the merchant hopped on. "Now, onward to learning!"

The village they approached was of decent sizes. Wooden buildings surrounded the main road. Villagers clambered about their daily life. Yet a dark elf and a wolf drew many eyes. The sooner nailed a poster to the wall. Upon a green background the bold words 'Humble Beginnings: Chakra and a New Era' popped out. People clumber around as the merchant pulled up in front of them.

Standing, the merchant weaved signs. "Welcome folks." Silver leapt off of the ground and slammed his hand into the earth. People yelped as the earth under them threw them up. Each slab space apart to from benches. "It good to see so many people here." Forcing a wall of earth up, the merchant leaned on it. "You may call me the Philosopher. Today, I like to ask you a question? How would you like it if life can be made a little easier?" Opening his arms, the merchant eye's tinkle. "And all you have to do is awake something that all human have in their system."

"Sir," said one of the person on the bench, "what do you mean that all humans have?"

Pressing a finger to his chin, the merchant hummed. "Good question. I know the answer, but about you folks. Care to point it out?"

"Hair?" asked one person.

"Some of us how more than other," stated Naruto. That earned a few chuckle.

"Nope," said the merchant.

"A spirit?" asked a small child.

"Somewhat close, but nope."

"Hope?" asked another person.

Clapping his hands, the merchant shook his head. "That's a good one, but look at the banner to my right."

"Chakra?" asked a person. "Isn't that something only those shinobi use?"

Laughter flowed form the merchant. "My good sir, I assure you that we have never learn from the shinobi of the villages." He swing his hand out to the dark elf. Bowing, the dark elf took out a scroll and threw it to the ground. Upon impact it erupted into smoke and a plain water fountain took it place.

Fu then stepped forward and placed her hands in it. As she pulled it out water followed. Once her hands broke free the pillars stood. She started shaping them into new form. Silver walked around the child. His hand weaving about her as if to keep her in place.

"My friends, chakra is an energy which all people produced."

"A long with water, farts, and other crap." Chuckles brought a smile to Fu' face.

"Quite right." Kneeling, the merchant's gestured to the people taking form. Granted, they looked rather childish. Yet one could tell the one holding a shovel was a farmer, another swinging large bags of money about a banker, a person wielding a sword a shinobi, and a duck swim around them. "All of these before you produce chakra." Silver gestured to the earth. "The ground produced chakra." Swinging his hands into the air, the merchant looked up in awe. "Even the sun that bath us with light have whiff of chakra."

"Really?" Naruto tried his best to ignored, but he strolled up to the fountain. He poked the farmer and it body caved in. Grunting, Fu waved the boy away. A hand grabbed him by the arm and pulled Silver's side him to his side.

"It's true," said Silver. "Plants, buildings, insects, fire, water, hell! Almost everything that I'm aware of can do it."

Dashing to the fountain, the merchant dragged the blond to it. As he did so Fu's figures sinks and large pillar appeared. From it she created several shinobi. All of them in a middle of a fight.

Silver let go of Naruto and cupped his hands around the fight. "As all of you good people should know, shinobi of all kind train in the use chakra to create feats of wonder." Clapping his hands together, the merchant destroyed the fight. "But they squander it and horde it to themselves. They taught you that chakra is a weapon that can only be used to kill and slaughter." Stepping away from the fountain, the merchant grinned as Fu's stepped forward.

"Ma'am," said a person, "why would we want to use chakra."

A chuckle escaped Fu. "Whiskers, stepped forward."

"Not my name." Yet the blond did as told.

"This boy here is thirteen. He was a graduate student. The most basic of training he had is a couple of jutsu and gym."

"He's a stick of boy," commented an audience member. Naruto huffed.

"True." The dark elf took out another scrolled and summoned a giant metal ball. A handle place on top of it. "As you can see, we got a metal ball that weigh about one hundred and seventy pounds. About the weight of a man. May a child of Naruto own age step up?"

Mutters run through the crowd as a youth stepped forward. Many of them questioned what hoax maybe. Smiling, Fu patted the child on the back.

"All I want you do is grabbed the ball and lift it."

"You're joking," said the volunteer. Fu smiled. Shrugging, the child stepped forward and grabbed hold of the weight's handle. His teeth clenched as he heave and pulled. Yet he could get the ball maybe an inch off the ground before it slammed back into the earth. "This is impossible."

"Naruto," said the Fu, "I want you to pick up the weight."

"Um, okay." Stepping forward, the blond nodded to the volunteer. After he spat in his hands, the blond grabbed the ball and lift. Naruto seemed shock as he lifted the steel ball into air. His arms quivered, but he got it over his head.

"No way!" A man jumped to his feet. "This got to be a trick."

"Believe it!" exclaimed Naruto. "Want to give it a try."

Setting the weight down, the blond stepped out of the twenty something man. He grabbed hold and pulled. When it refused to move he glared at it.

"There have to be a jutsu being use." The young man run his hands across.

Silver lifted his hands up into the skies. "My hands are apart. How about you guys?" The merchant assistance followed his motion. "See! We're innocent of foul play. It's the boy's chakra system at work."

Spinning around, Silver jabbed a hand at the audience. "Any of you can do it as well." The merchant turned around and walked up the building. "There so much one can do with chakra that can benefit the community. Imagine one man able to separate poison from water and build construct a building in one day.." Silver jabbed an elderly person. "Or you! Want to felt a bit more useful? Activate your chakra system."

"But I'm old," stated the elder.

"Don't be discourage by the boy age. Yes, the younger you are the easier it is to use chakra. Then again,"- the merchant shrugged- "it's like any skill. Practice at a younger just mean you had more time to use it."

"I'm a farmer," said a man. "How can it help me?"

"Did you every needed to move large quantity of earth? You can probably create irrigation systems that take days and shrink it down to a couple hours."

"What about a merchant?" asked a woman.

"Defense from bandits." Pushing off the wall, the merchant landed in front of the fountain. "You can stand and fight or flee at speeds which the bandits can't keep up with."

Spreading his arms, Silver grinned. "If you people wished to learn follow me outside of the village." Silver jumped onto the wagon and led it out into the forest.

The blond was surprise to see a large group followed them into the trees. About twenty people in all. Naruto and the rest of the crew standby. He trying his best to remember what it like to first use chakra and came up blank. First time would be when he first joined the academy. One of his teacher asked him to channel chakra by forcing it through a metal tube with a light bulb on it. It worked only if he can get chakra to flow through his body. It took him a month longer then everyone else to do so, but the blond did felt excitement at the rush of energy and the dull glow of the light.

"Everyone sit down." Plopping onto his butt, the merchant folded his arms. Once all the villagers did as asked the merchant grinned. "Let me start by saying that I'm only here to give you a sample of what you might feel. I will not teach you jutsu or anything like that. Only the chance to feel chakra."

"But you said-" started a villager.

"No worries. I will teach jutsu who may want to learn it, but I'll explain that later." Clapping his hands, the merchant took a deep breath. "Now. Let focus on just trying to feel your chakra first. For some it will be difficult. Other will find it easy. Do not feel frustrated if the flow isn't there.

"First, I want you to try to feel your center. It's a portion of your body that mixed the spiritual chakra and body chakra together. When it happen you'll know. To find you're center…"

Silver shrugged. "For some, it best for them to sit down and focus on it. Others may need to move around and work it out. You'll just have to find the best you can. It something only you can do."

Folding his arms, the merchant glanced to his right. "As for you Naruto, we'll be stick here for a while. It's about time you are broken in."

 _I don't like those choose of words,_ thought the blond.

"Fu."

The verdette looked up from her back. "Why me?"

"Because the Ivy can't teach him, Teruim would rather eat him, and our last choose is busy keeping watch."

Snapping her book shut, the verdette sighed. "Alright. Come on, Whiskers. We're going ot learn a simple jutsu." She tucked her book into her shirt.

The blond darted after the verdette. "Are we going to learn an amazing jutsu?"

Fu walked until they were out of sight of the villagers. "You saw Silver climbed the tree earlier?" Tearing her mask off, she tucked it under an arm. Naruto nodded. "If you're going to stay with us you need to learn some moves, fast."

"Is Silver going to lead us to trouble?"

Snorting, Fu shook his head. "He is trouble." A smile formed as she sit down. "Though he always try to have fun about it. No, he won't drag you into anything until he feel you're ready. Father not the type to force people hands unless he thinks it necessary. Now, if you want to walk up that tree you need to focus chakra to your feet. Too much and you'll become crushing machine. Too little and the ground will punch you."

"Please." Placing his hands together, the blond channeled chakra to his feet. "I'll have this done in no time." Naruto picked a random tree and run up it. Two steps later the back of his head slammed into the ground.

Biting back a chuckle, the verdette poked him on the tender spot. "Incredible, that the first time I see someone hit the earth so fast."

"Shut up." Rubbing the sore spot, the blond leapt to his feet. "Maybe if I get a running start." The blond darted several meters from the tree. He sprinted up it and got an inch higher off the ground. Though this time he managed to get his arms under him. "Damn it."

"Don't worry." Fu drew her book out. "Now that you're stuck with us you have plenty of time to figure it out."

Sighing, the blond ran at the tree and tried to climb. "Are you guys actually father and daughter?"

"Biologically, nope."

"Bio what?"

"It's mean that I'm not we're not blood." Flipping through the pages of her book, she stopped from time to time to check the number. She forgot to bookmark the page. "Though I still consider him my father. Did more than my fake one ever did?"

"Harsh."

"It true." The bug girl found her page. Spotting a spider to her right, she lower her hand and let it climb up her. "So, what with the dream of becoming Hokage?"

"It as I said." Slipping for the sixth time, the blond fell to his feet. "That is my dream. Once I'm able to return to the village I will impressive everyone.

"Nice to know."

"I'm serious."

"Hm."

Pausing on his third step, the blond flipped off the tree. He landed in front of the verdette and glared, but she had her face buried in the book. The blond grumbled and started running at the tree.

"Increase your charka input."

Skidding to a stop, the blond glanced to Fu.

"You're using far to less. For someone willing to punch a demon and then run through enemy territory, you're being too cautious."

"I panicked." Walking back to the beginning, the blond gathered energy to feet and pumped more charka. "Wished I can say that I done something cool, but that what happened."

"Nothing to be ashamed of. Now leave me along and let me read my book. Talking will only distract you from business."

Rolling his eyes, the blond darted up the tree. "Please, I'll have this done-" The bark under him cracked and he shot off the tree. With a yelp he slide across the ground and rammed his head into a tree. Limp, he stared off into space with a dumb smile. "Damn it."

With a sigh Fu strolled over. "You put too much into it this time."

"I know!"

Hours passed. At some point during the training Silver wandered on over. With his hands cupped together. Naruto got an extra step in when he fell off the tree. Upon landing, he glanced to the merchant.

"Hey Silver, how training going?"

"Well enough." The father kneeled beside his daughter. "They are trying hard and some maybe do it in a day or two. I saw you made progress."

"You need something?" Fu kept her eyes on the book.

"While I was training I got a bit bored and start walking around. I was searching the ground when I spotted something." Silver opened his hands.

Fu gasped and dropped her book. "Is that a Beller!"

"A what?" Naruto walked over. Walking in Silver's hand, a little bug walked around. It remained Naruto a bit of a ladybug, but with the butt of a firefly. When it tried to fly away it wings ringed.

"Let me have it!" Fu took the bug. "I didn't think you can find them this far south."

"There are swamps in the Fire Nation," said Silver. "It could be a subspecies."

"Where do you find it?"

Curiosity got the best of Naruto and he followed. They came upon a field of flowers of different colors. Taking care with her steps, Fu placed the beller onto her shoulder and she started to search. Silver stood in place. A smile on his face.

Standing next to Silver, Naruto hummed. "Why is the beller so important?"

"In term of fighting, nothing. Bellers are harmless." Silver cupped a hand over his ear. "But if you listen you can hear the chimes of their wings." With a nod Naruto did as told. He smiled upon her bells floating in the air.

"Fu never had a family," stated the merchant. "Before I came along. Her father was never around and her mother had already gone to the heavens." Pocketing his hands, the merchant grinned. "Fu remember only one think about her mother. That each night they would go to a special place and listen to the beller play their tones." Blinking, Naruto looked to Silver. His smile turned sad.

"Father!" Rushing over, Fu held out her hands. A variety of insects in hands. "Look I got."

"Let see now." Silver bent over. "I see Mr. Grasshopper. Oh!" Silver tilted his hat. "Hello Miss Wasp. Please take care not to sting me. It look like my old foe the devina worm is here to?" Silver trembled. "You brought that one to make me shivered, didn't you."

Sticking out her tongue, Fu grinned. "Maybe."

Silver patted the verdette on the head. "Keep looking for these bellers. We can't bring them home."

"I know." Fu glanced to the bug on her shoulder and sighed.

"But we can go to your favor restaurant!"

"I'm holding you to your promise!"

With a nod Silver started off. He placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Remember to have fun, kid. They're going to be a time when you going to have a bad time. This is something you can look back on and support yourself with. Now if you excuse me, I need to make sure my students isn't lacking."

Chuckling, Naruto jabbed a finger at the merchant. "Say the guy who should be teaching them." Silver tipped his hat to the blond. Naruto found himself another tree and kept on working.

The sun two-thirds of the way to returning to is earthy bed. Laying on the ground, the blond breathed heavily. He glared at the tree trunk. Halfway up the trunk crushed bark marked his last attempt. Sitting in the flowers, Fu surrounded herself with bellers. Their flapping wings provided a nice tone. His determination to perform the jutsu startled her.

 _He got to be tired,_ thought Fu. _The idiot had been at it for hours without a single break._ She worked some of the flowers into a crown. Standing, Fu walked over to Naruto and placed them on his head. "Rest in peace, exhausted one."

"I'm still alive." Putting on a wide grin, he pointed to the top of the tree. "See! Just a little more-"

"I'm surprise you're body hadn't broke yet." Fu poked a leg and the blond yipped. "See! You're body got to be sore."

"It's fine." Pulling away, the blond darted toward the tree. A claw hand grabbed him by the collar and yanked him off his feet. "Hey!"

"That's enough for one day." Ivy lowered the struggling blond to the ground. "Silver is ready to get going."

"Already?" Pouting, the blond crossed his arms. "But I was just getting the technique down."

"Wall climbing?"

"I thought it was tree climbing?"

Shrugging, the demon plot Naruto onto the ground. "Same different." She looked to Fu. Did he try to escape?"

"He was too focused on climbing up the tree," said Fu. "Any longer and he would had killed himself."

"No I wouldn't!" exclaimed the blond.

"Chakra exhaustion might had done you in. Then the fact of just becoming mental exhausted and slipping up."

"I could have done it all night."

Ivy reached out and clustered the two together. "Settle down. It time to return to the rest of the group." Puffing his cheeks, the blond grumbled. The ladies herded Naruto back to the merchant's group. Bellers flew around Fu a little be longer before she sent them away. She watched them for a bit before placing her mask on. A large numbers of them clustered around him. "I got the kids. Ready to go when you are."

"In a moment!" Silver waved a hand. "I'm busy with taking answer."

"Mr. Philosopher," said a boy. "I felt something."

"Same here." Banging a hand into his fist, the man growled. "I could feel something within me, but it felt out of reach."

Silver waved his hands as if to pat his students. "Settled down. I would have been surprisingly happy that someone managed to do so." Spreading his arms, the merchant managed to get some space between him and his students. "Now, I must move on. Time is short and I can't teach you jutsu here."

"You mean there is a place we can learn?" asked a woman.

Nodding, the merchant took off his map and pulled out a map. "Of course." He held it over his chest. His finger traced down the elemental nations to the Land of Water. "I know this is asking much out of you, but I have a more permanent home here. A small island and not well known." Mutters run through the crowd.

"I understand that most of you are unable to do the journey. Money, life, and affairs must be keeping you busy. Though I suggest for the best of the village you sent a few young people in that direction."

"Yes." A village nodded. "That would be best."

"I'm uncertain that this is worth it," stated another villager, "but I have also seen what the shinobi done once. Mr. Philosopher, would you give us an hour to speak with our village. If might be able to get their help in the matter."

Bowing, the merchant grinned. "Of course, I would never force a person to do anything." The villagers bowed back before returning to their village. Silver turned to his group with a smile with it morphing into a frown. Staring after the villagers, Naruto seemed displease. Resting his chin on the blond's shoulder, the merchant whispered. "What the matter, my boy?"

Naruto yanked away. "I was just thinking, that all?"

"About?"

"Why are we teaching these guys to use chakra?" Scratching the back of his head, the blond scanned the skies. "These guys aren't going to put themselves in dangerous positions. Shinobi need to at their strongest to defend themselves."

Grinning, the merchant chuckled. _Did this boy not hear my speech earlier?_ With a cough the merchant licked his lips. "Naruto, while I will not downplay the danger of shinobi… Hold on a sec, have you even left your village before this."

"No." Glancing over his shoulder, the blond grinned. "Why?"

Fu got on her toes to whisper in the merchant's ear. "Father, he tried climbing tree none stop for hours."

"That some impressive chakra he got there."

"And when told him to stop he just wanted keep it at."

"So the youth lack experience." Humming, the merchant shrugged. "Alright Naruto, let agree at the moment to disagree." The blond tilted his head. "But I would like to remain you that you're still young. With little life knowledge it would be unwise to make a clear decision."

"Still think this a waste of time." Cupping his chin, the blond stared at the merchant. "You don't look old, though that would explain a lot." Naruto failed to notice the people around him scoot away. "You talk so much and allowed Fu to do work for you. No offense to her, she one strong girl, but you did say something about being tired." Looking to the skies, the blond missed the merchant tightening smile. "I bet you're sixty and using some sort of henge hid the wrinkles. Odd, but-"

The blond slammed into the ground. Clenching his cane, the merchant stabbed the end into the blond growing bump. His eyes gleams. He kneeled down and patted the blond on the head.

"Let get something straight right now." Silver grind the end of the can into Naruto's head. "I'm not old. You people may not live long, but rather young where I'm from. So please watch your mouth. It rude to accuse people of things that they're not."

"Yes sir," groaned the blond.

"Good." A chipper expression slipped onto Silver's face. "Now, let returned to the wagon and talk some. I need to know how much you learn from the academy." Putting his cane back in place, Silver walked off.

Fu peeled the blond off the ground. "Are you still alive?"

Naruto nodded. "Did someone switch place with Silver when I wasn't looking?"

"No." Shaking her head, the verdette grinned. "You can pretty much talk with him on most things and he'll talk you to dead. His age, however, is one of the few things that are off limit."

"Warn me next time."

"I'll try."

For the next hour or so the group settled down around the wagon. Naruto spent most of his time taking with the merchant and what he learned at the academy. Of course, to the blond's irk, he learned all of two jutsu and failed on the third. Yet the merchant kept pushing on subjects just as the Leaf's village.

"The best way to understand another person is there history," stated the merchant. With a sigh the blond did the best he could to explain. While he past the history portion of the class with some ease, Naruto only remember bits and pieces of it.

Naruto's thanked kami when three of villagers returned. Sliding off the wagon, Silver bowed to the newcomer. Returning the bow, the eldest of the pair stepped forward.

"So you're this Philosopher our people had been taking about," said an elderly woman.

"I am."

"When I heard that a man is offering to teach jutsu I thought they gone insane." Crossing his arms, the elder shook his head. "The shinobi villages are protected of their art. I doubt they just hand over their secret."

"I assure you good sir that I have little connection with the villages." Straightening up, the merchant summoned a stomp of earth to sit on. "What I teach does not have to use for war. In fact, I ask that you try to avoid that as much as possible. A village is a place to grow and help your kin become strong. That is all I want to do."

"Philosopher, as wry as we are, my village decided to take the risk."

A young lady stepped forward and bowed. "Greeting, Lord Philosopher. It will be a pleasure to learn from you." Her white dress stripped with blue cling to her body. Pale violet hair framed her head. Strapped to her back was a backpack.

"And it would be good to teach you." Reaching into his pocket, the merchant pulled out a map. "Here are the coordination to the island. Follow it to a key and you'll get there safely."

Blinking in confusion, the lady took it. "Can I not accompany you?"

"Sorry, but my group have its own schedule to keep. If you want this young lady to learn jutsu as fast as possible then go to the island. There are people who read to teach her."

"But I never traveled outside this village," said the lady.

Grabbing the map, the merchant pointed to a dot on it. "Then go to one of these dots and ask for help. I got friends there more than willing to help." Silver pulled away with a smile. "With luck you should get there within the week. Now if you excuse me, I got to get going."

The group made several more stops along the way. Silver putting on his show and drawing in more students. All the while Naruto kept on training with the tree climbing jutsu. By the time they reached the sea he mastered it. Would had done so quicker, but Fu forced him to take breaks despite his protest.

A steamboat captained by one of Silver's friends carried them over the seas. Standing at the bow, the blond stared off into the distance. His glared leveled on the water. Clenching his teeth, the blond darted to the hull of the ship.

Being a cargo ship, the cargo area served for sleeping quarters. Blankets had been hanged up to provide a little privacy. Naruto pulled a blanket aside to see Silver sitting on the floor. Twirling his monocle, he studied the Forbidden Scroll spread out in front of him.

"No fair!" Naruto plopped down beside the merchant. "You're already getting new jutsu and I'm stuck with some weak stuff."

"Naruto, I don't plan on using most of those jutsu." Putting the monocle on, he snorted. "Some of those, just as a jutsu that allow one to drain another life force, don't suit me at all. Too much chakra for my system"

"Come on!" Naruto stared at the scroll. "At least teach me something cool."

"Naruto, why don't you learn some sealing?" Getting a blank stare, the merchant rolled his eyes. "You called yourself an Uzumaki, correct." That earned a nod. "You do know what that names means?"

"It's a name," said Naruto, "what of it?"

Blinking, the merchant put the scroll down. "Boy, the Uzumaki clan was once feared in this nations." A blank stared caused a sigh. "Naruto, do you know anything about your parents."

"I thought we went over this already. I was orphaned from a young age. My parents killed during the attack on the village."

"Then I might enlighten you on at least one your family's history."

"What?" Naruto stared at the merchant as if a head had grown.

"Before the Third Shinobi War there was a nation known as the Land of Whirlpools. On that island was a shinobi clan known as the Uzumaki. They fought alongside the Leaf Village and their sealing techniques feared among the nations. So their enemies destroyed the village."

Twirling his monocle, the merchant sighed. "Words have it is what left of your kin is scattered throughout the world. It possible that one of them wound up in your hometown seeking refuge."

"Would the Hokage know about this?"

Humming, the merchant shrugged. "It wouldn't surprise me. Even for an ally the Hokage would have to grant them permission." Silver put his monocle on. "Come to think of it there should be a paper trail somewhere about the ma'am or sir. Uzumaki wasn't a common name to begin with."

"The old man wouldn't lie to me?"

"Hm."

Clenching his fist, the blond glared at the scroll. "If he know something he would had tell me."

"The Third Hokage?"

"Yes."

"Maybe he have a good reason not to." Silver held up his hands at the evil glare. "Look! I have little to no idea why he would do just a thing. All I'm saying is mere speculation. Once you see the Hokage again then maybe you can asked him straight up." Patting the floor beside him, the merchant gestured to the ground. "Until then, let talk about sealing. It's a little dumb to think that blood relation mean you'll have the skill, but the Uzumaki had skills in the sealing arts or Fūinjutsu."

Scratching the back of his head, the merchant chuckled. "Sadly, I have no ability in the matter. My cook-"

"For the last time, Silver," shouted a voice, "we take turn cooking."

Pulling the curtain aside, the scantily dressed dark elf kneeled down. "So you want to learn some sealing."

"What so great about sealing?" asked the blond. "All you can do is store stuff."

The dark elf presented his hand to show an eye staring at the blond. With a poof of smoke a yellow piece of paper formed. The foreign word 'froze' written across. Before Naruto could blink the dark elf slapped it onto his head. Muscles tensed up as the blond tried to speak. Within a millisecond his body refused to move.

"If I can catch an enemy off guard it's an easy way to disable them and end a fight with little bloodshed." The dark elf snatched the paper off. "Easy once learned, but difficult to learn in the first place. Care to learn."

"Hell yeah!" Jumping to his feet, the blond pumped a fist into the air. "Just show the hand signs and I'll work on it."

"It's a bit more complicated than that. Join me in my room."

With a nod the blond followed the dark elf to his space. Silver stared after. A smile refused to slip from his face.

* * *

Staring across the sea, Anko yanked a pair of dango off their stick. With a flick of the wrist she pegged it to a nearby tree. A massive gray dog with an eye patched over one eye glanced in her direction. With a snort he turned his attention back to his master. The feral woman sniffed the air. A frown refused to lift.

"We could try walking across the water," said the Inuzuka. "But we would run out of chakra before we get there."

A man covered in clothing landed nearby. "My insects are being of little help." Small beetles flew into his neck collar and up his sleeves. "And the local insect are refusing to speak with me."

"Yet Naruto is heading in this direction." Drawing out the bone knife, Anko spun it around her finger. A smile form at the thought of curving up the person who took away the blond. First thing she did was summon the snakes to ask if Naruto had summoned him. Upon hearing of a verdette assaulting her Naruto she nearly stabbed the snake for allowing the monster get away. "Don't worry Naruto. Once I find you I'm making your captives suffer."

* * *

 **Please leave a review!**


	5. Chapter 5

Enjoy the read

* * *

Chapter Five

Naruto's trembling hand struggled to hold steady. A grimace forming on his face upon seeing his kanji becoming more illegible by the second. With a final stroke **,** he placed the brush down and handed it over to his teacher. The dark elf, wearing a heavy black coat striped with yellow, yawned, sparing it a glance before crumpling it up. Tossing it over his shoulder, it landed on the ever growing pile of paper.

Growling, the blond rubbed his hands together. "Come on, Bat sensei! It was better than before."

"My name is Gane." Folding his arms, the teacher kicked his foot in the general direction of a stack of paper. "Your kanji needs to be clean and precise. It's the only way chakra will store in it properly."

"It's freezing out here." Leaping to his feet, Naruto jabbed a finger over board at the blocks of ice floating in the water. "How am I supposed to write anything properly in this weather?!"

"Naruto, there will be times in the future when the conditions in your environment are less than ideal **.** In short, if you're able to transcribe an entire sealing scroll in this type of temperature **,** then you should be able to do it anywhere. Now keep writing."

"Can we at least move inside where it's warmer?"

The dark elf frowned and glanced between the blond, the modest, diminishing pile of clean scrolls and the growing mountain of scrunched up garbage."We do only have so much sealing paper **so** fine; but we need to improve your hand writing." Picking up a stray piece of paper, Gane frowned. Kanji confused him a bit, but he understood enough to know that none of them should look like a hippo being eaten by a crocodile. "How the hell do you read this?"

Grinning, the blond scratched the back of his head. "It works."

"Land off the starboard!"

A dark blur darted past the blond. Jumping to his feet, Naruto followed Fu to the railing of the ship. Shivering in a heavy white jacket, the verdette pulled down her cloth hat **.** Her lips twitching into a smile upon seeing the powder covered lands. The pillars ofearth stabbed the skies in the distance while coniferous trees lined the shore.

"Thank Kami." Rubbing her arms, Fu shrank into herself. "A warm heater is in order."

"Are your bugs going to die?" asked Naruto.

"They should be fine for now." The verdette reached for her back, gesturing at the empty space where her container used to hang. "I left them down in the dock covered in blankets;they should last long enough until we reach home."

"Home being?"

"Dono, a nice village tucked away in the mountains." Strolling onto the deck, the merchant pulled his red coat closer to his body **,** fur lining covering the cuffs and neck line. "It's an easy two hour hike to get there."

"Would be faster if you let us run at full speed." Naruto dangled his hands over the railing where the frostbitten metal tried to stick them in place.

Patting Naruto on the head, Silver chuckled. "We're trying to stay out of sight. As long as we nobody bothers us, we need to keep up the act." Sliding his hands away from Naruto's hair, Silver tucked them into his pockets. "Now Naruto,you and the others will go ahead of me. I will join you later."

"Why?"

A clawed hand patted him on the shoulder and Naruto fell into the demon's puffy red coat. "Because the Philosopher doesn't need lackeys tagging along at the moment. It will also be easier on us if we can walk around normally."

"Can you stop slapping me?" Rubbing his sore shoulder, the blond pouted. "You're going to bruise me."

"I'm being as gentle as possible." Peering down in the water, the demon grinned. "Who's up for a race for the shore?" Even as the demon spoke, she leapt off the boat still , the blond watched **,** dumb founded as Ivy landed on the water before darting off towards the shore.

"You're on!" Springing wings, the verdette zipped into the skies.

With a laugh the merchant leapt over the railing. "No fair on the head starts!"

Glaring at the group, the bond huffed. "Why didn't anyone ever tell me ninjas can walk on water?"

"If you like, we can teach that to you later." Gane dragged Naruto over to the paper. "It's not particularly difficult but it takes practice. Though if you tried it now, I would have to fish out a Popsicle. For now, just be good boy and work on your calligraphy."

Grumbling, the blond did as told. When the ship hit shore **,** Silver and the others had started a small campfire. Shivering as he huddled close to the source of heat, Naruto watched while the others unloaded Rubric and the wagon off the boat.

A sharp poke to the shoulder got Naruto to stand. "So can we move as fast as we can?"

"We may." Chuckling, the demon scratched her chin. "Though we would still have to go at your speed." Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but yelped when the demon scooped him off of his feet. "So to go the fastest we can **,** I might as well carry you."

Slung over the demon's shoulder like a rag doll, the blond blushed. "I can run by myself!" A chuckle from the verdette darkened the blush.

"Probably," sang Ivy. Naruto wrapped an arm around Ivy's neck, holding on tight as she sprinted **,** each heavy step shaking his spine. Five minutes later **,** the demon skidded to the stop as the blond lay on top of her head, reaching his hand behind him to rub his aching back. "We're here."

Ivy set Naruto down on the thin layer of frost. The blond stared at the tiny village in front of him. Judging by the number of permanent structures **,** he guessed that only a hundred people or so lived here. Yet it was by no means a ghost village judging from the sheer number people swamping the area, tents set up outside of town rivaling the village itself.

People paused to wave at the new comers, many of them walking up to the group to talk to Ivy or Gane. The blond glanced around curiously, acknowledging the fact that many of the people there wore many different styles of clothing. Having been born and raised within the confines of his native village, he could only to hope to guess their varying nationalities.

Walking up to a two story building, Naruto stared at the picture flanking the door. A cartoonish fox stuck its tongue out at the blond. A deep chuckle bounced around within the blond's head.

"Who's laughing?" The blonde scanned the area with a frown.

"Nobody." Walking up to the door, Fu knocked on it.

 _Ever heard of inner demons? Well they're real… Or should I say…_ _I'm_ _real…_

Spinning around, the blond studied the area.

 _I would love to talk with you, but it's about to get busy. See you in your dreams._

"Naruto?" A fist knocked on top of the blond's head. "Pay attention."

Blinking, the blond stared at the fox mask. "How the hell did you get here before us?"

"I have my ways." Pulling the door aside, the Philosopher gestured inside.. "Come in. Let's begin the grand tour of my ideals." Naruto threw a glance over his shoulder, waiting for an explanation, but all Fu offered him was a shrug. A hand reached out, closing around his arm before pulling him inside."Now, this is my home. Don't be fooled by its outward appearance; it's a humble room."

The first floor was one large room. Wooden floors creaked under their feet and several pictures of random people hung from the walls, but the rest of the room was relatively clear space.

Silver tugged Naruto toward the stairs. "This here is my personal dojo. If I want to evaluate someone or need to train them **,** we would come here." Reaching the top of the stairs, the merchant pointed at a door, giving it a knock. "This here is the door to my family's private quarters. Off limits unless invited."

Naruto nodded his head. "Is that where you'll be keeping the Forbidden Scroll?" At some point he planned on escaping and who knows? Maybe, just maybe he can take back what belong to his village.

The merchant poked him on the nose. "Now why would I tell you that?" Twirling around, the merchant dragged Naruto out of the house as Fu disappeared into behind the family door. "As you probably noticed, this is the main village. While I can hardly say that it has everything a person would need, it got the basics. Just ask around and the villagers will point you the right way. Though you're probably more curious about the madness of my teachings."

As they strolled through the village the merchant paused to engage in conversation. People of all ages stopped to spend a minute or two chatting with him; many of whom chose to discuss their training in chakra. Though they were more than happy to diverge into more personal and general conversation.

Gritting his teeth, the blond yanked the merchant away. "Come on! This is like the twelfth person."

Silver waved a hand in dismissal."We'll get moving again. I can't just drop this gent."

With a shake of his head the blond sprinted ahead, **s** potting several burnt posts on top of the hill. Curiosity getting the better of him, Naruto went right up to the posts, observing it with interest. Sensing a rapidly approaching source of heat, Naruto yelped as he threw himself onto the ground, ducking just in time as a fireball struck the post.

"Hey kid!" shouted a voice. "What are you doing?"

Cautiously getting up into kneeling position, the blond gave an uneasy smile to a line of people. "Sorry. I am new around here." Dusting himself off, Naruto stood, staring around at the strangers. "What are you guys doing?"

"We're working on our fire jutsu."

"Mind if I watch?"

"Go ahead." Standing a little apart from the crowd, a man dressed as a shinobi waved him over. On his right arm he wore a blank headband. "Do you have any affinity for fire based jutsu?"

Dashing over, Naruto shrugged. "Don't know; I just started learning about using chakra."

"Most people here are in the same boat." Jabbing a finger forward, the shinobi stiffened his expression. "Alright! Do it again."

"Hai!" Watching the man as he wove the signs, Naruto smiled to himself, noting that though they were sloppy, he was easily able to identify each one. His smiled widened, seeing the flames from the jutsu that the man managed to create.

"That would be nice to start a fire," stated a person among the crowd.

"I wonder if it possible just to get the hot air," asked another person. "That would be of good use especially during a day like this."

"Boo," said a voice behind the blond.

Startled, Naruto almost leapt for the skies, but the hand on his shoulder kept him firmly on the ground. "Will you stop doing that?!"

"Come now, my boy." Tapping the blond on the head, Silver gave a wink. "You should stay with your superior."

"Master Philosopher." The shinobi bowed and upon hearing him, the crowd followed in suit. "I wasn't aware that you had returned."

Bowing back, the merchant's eyes twinkled. "I come and go as need be. Are you telling me that you need help with training?"

"No sir." Straightening, the shinobi grinned. "We could use more teachers. Many people from the Land of Water are swamping us."

"The best we can do is reach out to other shinobi or get some of our own students to help. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to show this young man around."

"I see; hope you have a nice day."

With a sincere smile the blond waved at the people from the training ground as he left. "They were nice people."

"Really?" The merchant tapped the nose of his mask "I would call it having manners. In fact, I think that applies to most people." Grinning, he swept his arm toward the paths leading into the mountain. "You just saw one of our training areas. Wanting to teach as many people as possible, we created a few dozen training areas. Of course, the students only use them when they are able to cast jutsu."

"This place has got to be old." Stretching his arms out, the blond shook his head. "There's just no way you could have done all of this in a year."

 **"** No, you're right… It took ten, to be exact." Tucking his hands into his pockets, the merchant started up one of the paths. "Compared to everything else **,** it's still a young ideal, but I like to think that it'll grow strong in the future." Scratching the back of head, the merchant chuckled. "Though it did have a rocky beginning; apparently, finding a village willing to train people in the use of chakra scared them. Something about not wanting to become a shinobi village."

Sighing, the merchant scanned the landscape. "Yet the situation in the Land of Water made these folks a bit more… open minded." Smiling as Naruto blinked in confusion, Silver shook his head."It's not important at the moment. What's important right now is that I show you around."

Coming to a halt, Silver gestured to a building in front of him. Tucked at the base of the hill was a one story structure that had many opened windows. Its walls were painted a bright green. Silver paused outside a window, giving time for Naruto to peer in and see adults and children sitting on the floor.

"This here is our Chakra School." Tapping on the window, the merchant waved to the teacher. "Everyone who wants to learn the basics of chakra come here. From there, they can stay and expand on their learning or go home."

"The catch being?"

"A small fee to help pay off expenses and we ask that they remain a little cautious around shinobi." Leaning against the wall, the merchant smiled. "Beyond that I ask little more."

Humming, the blond scratched the back of his head. "That's all?Don't you want to become leader of a village or something like that?"

"Why the hell would I burden myself with that nonsense?" Waving his hand, the merchant glanced over his shoulder. "No, I'm happy with just being a teacher at the moment." Tilting his head, Silver let a mischievous grin spread over his face."Though who knows what the future have install."

Clapping his hands, the merchant brought that conversation to a decisive end **.** "For now, let's worry about your training; would you like to keep working on seals?"

"I rather learn how to spew fire from my mouth." Folding his arms, Naruto sighed. "Though I admit it was neat that Gane managed to stop me with nothing more than a tag. Where can I go?"

Smiling,Silver patted the building. "Just go inside and ask **;** we've got a special class of people who are also working on their sealing jutsu."

With a nod the blond entered the building. Thin screens of cloth lead him to the end of the hallway into an asked the secretary sitting behind a desk where to go before she pointed him to the right room, offering him a kind grin.

Stepping into the classroom, Naruto blinked. He watched with a slack jaw as a man stored a pitchfork into a scroll. Excited murmurs erupted from several tables;the conversation centered on the amount of space they could save with it. Across the room, a red head leaned back in a chair, he stood up, letting it fall to the floor when Naruto enter the room.

"Here comes another worm?" Lacing his fingers together, the redhead studied the blond. "Are you a run away or sent by your village **?** "

"I was forced to come." Plopping down into an empty chair, Naruto frowned. "Silver dragged me here."

"That's a friend of yours?"

Naruto opened his mouth, but paused. The merchant had treated him well and invested more in him than most people back in his own village. Turning in his chair, he faced the table. Stacks of seal people lay in front of him.

"This wasn't my choice, but I'll make the most of it. Can I work on my sealing?"

"Why else would you be here?" Marching over, the redhead snatched a piece of paper off the top of the stack. "What can you do so far?"

"At the moment **,** I'm just trying to write the basic symbols for a sealing scroll."

Clicking his tongue, the teacher placed the paper in front of the blond. "Show me." Grabbing a pen and some ink, the blond, sticking his tongue out in concentration, wrote on the scroll. Finishing the last stroke,he pulled away with a grin.

"Hm. Not half bad… That being said, you still need to work on your penmanship." Tossing the paper on the ground, the redhead returned to his chair. "Keep writing until it becomes second nature."

* * *

Silver returned to the village. Entering a small building, he paused in the waiting room, a plain space with a set of chairs. A pair of shinobi guarding a door saluted him **;** their uniforms identified them as being agents of the Hidden Mist, but their headbands were blank.

Knocking on the door, the merchant pressed his ear against the wood. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"Get in here," growled a voice. Shoving the door open, the merchant grinned at the man zapping a post in front of him. Uncrossing the short blades, the dark skinned man glanced in his direction. His black hair reached down to his shoulders and multiple bandages crossed over his bare chest, serving as a shirt while a blue vest lay over it. Gray pants stopped halfway down his lower leg. "Honestly, this is your place;no need to knock."

"I'm just paying my respects." Silver dashed over to a bean bag and plopped down. "Raiga, please tell me that something of interest has happened here since I last came."

"More or last the same old." Facing the post, Raiga crossed the tongs of his swords. Electricity built up and released on a wood rod. "More recruits are coming in. Shinobi from the Mist occasionally try to sneak in, but a little genjutsu from a few students sent them back home with no bloodshed."

"Then Gane's alert system is still working." Taking his hat off, the merchant tossed it in the air and it looped onto a peg. "Though I'm sort of disappointed; if there was just a little more excitement around here **,** I would stick around more often."

Shaking his head, Raiga sheathed his blades. "Is there a particular reason why you're here?"

"I just want to check up on things around here; how is Ranmura doing?"

"Well." Pausing from charging his swords, the swordsman stared at the ground. "He has made many friends of late."

"As I told you he would." Stretching his arms over his head, the merchant grinned. "All people need is a little knowledge and time to understand."

"As long as he is happy, that is all that matters. Though I could do without the paper work." Silver glanced to the corner of the room where he spotted a small pile of paper work sitting on a charred desk.

Shaking his head, the merchant stood. "I'll be heading home now. Travel has been tiring and the house needs to be set in order. I'll take over the helm from you tomorrow."

"Fine by me;I would like to get out of the village for a while. There an itch that needs to be scratched."

"Yes, yes." With a bow of his head the merchant grabbed his hat before leaving the room. Reappearing in front of his house, he went to the second floor, testing the locked door. It popped open with ease.

Sighing, the merchant entered. "Fu, you left the front door open again."

"My bad!" The verdette's voice echoed down the long hallway. Several of the half dozen doors were left open. Going to a middle one, Silver peeked in. Fu stood by one of several large glass tanks that crowded the room. "Stop glaring at me; I was just making sure that my insects were still alive."

"You left the heater on."

"Of course."

"As long as they have heat and food **,** they should be happy." Exiting the room, the merchant went to his room to change into his normal clothes. He then went to the kitchen/dining room. Half of the space was claimed by the stove, cabinets, and sink, while the rest was taken up by a single table with a couple of chairs. Throwing off his hat and jacket onto a chair, Silver traded it for a red toque and an apron that proclaimed him to be the best cook. "How does stir fry sound to you?"

"I want to go to my restaurant!" shouted the verdette.

Huffing, the merchant took off the apron. "Alright;let's get going." Putting on his coat, he and the verdette went into a small curry store, sitting down at one of the half dozen tables. Given the lack of walls, one could see the people working behind the counter **;** one of them was a young boy with dark red eyes and the other was an adult.

Grinning, Fu hopped over to the boy. "Hey Ranmura! How is your body treating you?"

"Well enough." Ranmura pulled a ladle out of a pot filled with curry. "Walking is easier today than others."

"Come sit down Fu." Taking a seat, Silver pulled out a menu. With a nod the verdette walked over. They made their orders and half an hour later **,** the adult brought it over. Holding the plate, the merchant scooped food into his mouth. "Fu, what is your take on Naruto **?** "

Speaking between bites, the verdette frowned. "He's a loud mouth idiot with more steam then needed **,** though it's hard to tell if he's like that because of the tailed beast or because that's his natural personality **–** probably a little of both."

"Do you think he had many friends back home?"

"You saw the glares; I wouldn't be too surprised if the village was holding a celebration at the moment because of his disappearance."

"Can you become Naruto's friend?"

Stopping from her eating, Fu set the fork down. "I wouldn't mind hanging around him, if that's what you asking."

"I'm not asking anything of you." Entangling his hands, Silver rested his chin on top of them **,** a small smile crossing his face. "Though I do want that boy to see a different world **;** one where he's a person and must think the world as a community. I started doing that by inserting him into our classes." He chuckled. "Rather easy when he's thirsty for knowledge."

"Father, please be careful. As much fun as you're having, Naruto did have a hard life."

"No worries;I'll be gentle with the lad. All I want him to do is learn and that is all."

* * *

Mentally exhausted, the blond followed a person to the barracks – permanent tents that those without shelter can settle in. A group of cooks outside stopped him long enough to offer him a stew; far from Naruto's first choice of meal, but he took it with little complaint.

Once inside **,** he navigated through halls marked with cloth walls. Asking around for a room **,** the people directed him to one in the back. About the width and length of a grown man **,** it provided enough room for the cot it held **,** but the rest of the room bare.

Plopping onto the bed, the blond ate his meal, setting the bowl outside when he was finished, hearing footsteps outside as someone picked it up and took it away. Flopping onto the bed, Naruto stared up at the ceiling, a smile forming as he thought upon his work. He was getting closer to figuring it out and he knew it. Closing his eyes, the blond slipped into another world within minutes.

Naruto grimaced when his feet felt wet. "Well this is odd…" He appeared to be in a large sewer, the round walls seeming to go on forever. _Yuck!_ he thought. _All this sewage must stink…_ Though when he gave a few tentative sniffs,his eyes widened;the area smelled exactly like him.

"Well don't just stand there," boomed a voice. "Aren't you curious?"

Jumping, the blond twirled around with both hands held out in front of him. "Who the hell are you?"

"An impatient being. Can you smell my chakra?"

Sniffing the air, the blond clamped a nose over his mouth. "Why does it smell so acidic?"

"Pardon me for not bathing; there's no plumbing in here. Follow that smell;you'll find me soon enough."

Something told the blond to run as far from that voice as possible **,** yet his own curiosity drew him closer and closer toward the origin. Stepping into a wide room, Naruto stared at the massive gate in front of him. Each bar was the size of an aged tree and there was a small sealing tag stuck to the front of it.

Beyond that was a room shrouded in darkness. Walking up to the gate, Naruto sniffed it before peering through the bars into the room.A pair of dark yellow eyes surrounding slit pupils appeared **,** each one large enough to swallow a man whole.

Naruto leapt back as smoke billowed out of the cage. "Okay, this is becoming the oddest dream ever."

"Is it now?" asked the behemoth.

As the creature's eyes rose **,** the blond started to see better in the darkness. Sitting on its hind legs, a fox that could dwarf small mountains with ease stared down at the blond. While clearly a fox, its torso and front legs were closer to the anatomy of human.

"Hello, Naruto. Do you know who I am?"

"A great big fox?"

Dropping its head, the fox growled. "How many tails do I have?" She rose nine, brushy tails.

"Nine. So you're a nine-tailed fox."

"And…?"

"You're red."

The fox stomped its foot, making the ground vibrate. "Still as much of an idiot as ever." Yelping, the blond held still until the earthquake subsided. "You may know me as the Nine-Tailed Kitsune that attacked your village!" A pregnant pause passed. "Didn't you just hear me?"

Rubbing his stomach, the blond stared down at it. "I should stick to ramen."

Naruto gasped as the end of a claw punched him in the stomach. Flying backward, he skipped off the surface. Face first he sank into the water before he managed to claw his way to the surface and breathe again.

"Does that feel like a dream to you?" asked the kitsune.

Staggering to his feet, the blond grimaced. "Okay, that hurts. Let's assume that you are the fox that attacked my village. How the hell am I able to talk with you? The Fourth Hokage killed you."

"I'm am chakra in physical form. Killing me would be like claiming that one can kill the seas, the earth, or the skies. As to why I'm here, it's because the Fourth locked me away within you."

"What?"

"I live in your stomach."

"Oh." Patting his stomach, the blond blinked. "How the hell does that work?"

"Look, we can go into the details later." Kneeling down, the kitsune rested on its stomach. "Let just say that I'm inside your body and we're stuck with one another for the time being."

"Okay." Sitting down, Naruto crossed his legs and arms. "I guess that makes you my tenant. You need something? "The fox knew the blond didn't believe her, but she held her tongue. She'll fix that soon enough.

"I brought you here to talk. As you can see, this cell of mine had cut me off from the outside world and the only way I can get information is to use your memories."

The blond nodded. "So?"

"It's boring in here so I ask that you release me."

Blinking, Naruto glanced around the room. "Now how am I supposed to do that?"

"See the seal on the door?Just pull it off and I'm free to go."

Holding his place, Naruto studied the seal. "Yeah, I'm going have to refuse."

"Child." The kitsune tapped a claw against the cage. "It's easy as ripping off a bandage."

"You said that you're a great big mass of chakra. If what you say is true **,** then wouldn't that mean your chakra is part of my body." Throwing his arms out, the blond gestured around the area. "I'll admit to being a bit slow, but even I know that ifI lose too much chakra **,** I die."

Sighing, the kistune laid back down. "At least you have some form of self-preservation. So what is going to convince you that I'm real?"

Humming, the blond placed his hands on his knees. "That odd source of power earlier when Fu's bugs overwhelmed me;did you do that?"

"I did." Raising her head, the kitsune grimaced. "It's the reason why we are able to talk now. Your life was endangered and your body started to panic. If you die, then I'm forced to go down with you;it's in my best interests to keep you alive until I can get out of here."

"Then why not give me that power again? Just enough to know that this conversation really happened."

Chuckling, the fox grinned. "It would be nice to see your startled expression **;** just be ready to face the hard truth."

"Okay." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "How do I wake up from this dream?"

"I can help you with that."

Coils of red liquid snaked through the bars. Leaping to his feet, Naruto stared as the substance climbed up his legs. He opened up his mouth to say something, but the liquid engulfed him, choking him, strangling him… The next moment, the blond leapt out of his bed. Startled cries echoed throughout the town.

As the blond sat up **,** several shinobi and a number of civilians rushed into his room, staring as a red chakra emitted from Naruto's entire body. Yelping, Naruto beat his arms about in the hope of making it go away as a dark chuckle echoed in his head.

 _Is this why the villagers hate me?_ The kitsune spoke the blond's mind. _Is it because I'm the nine tailed_ _kitsune_ _?_

* * *

Skidding to a stop, the Aburame pressed a hand to his head moments before his companions, too, halted and stared back at him **.** Beetles seemed to pour out of his collar and sleeve **,** yet the moment they made contact with the chilling air **,** they retreated back into their hive. The Aburame glanced about and silently cursed at the snow; no insect at this time of year would show itself.

"What's the matter?" asked Anko.

"My insects are acting up; they're sensing a powerful influx of chakra."

"Meaning?"

"I'm not quite sure." Placing a hand to his ear, the Aburame inhaled. The cold draught of air helped somewhat to calm the insects down. "All I can say is that it's strong."

Sniffing the air, the feral dog shook its head. "I smell something acidic yet like chakra." He turned to the east. "It's coming from those mountains over there." His partner sniffed the air and nodded in agreement.

"Think it could be Naruto?" Biting her lower lips, Anko racked her brains and came to a conclusion. "More importantly;the fox?"

"From this distance, it's too hard to tell, but if someone is doing harm to the kid…" Shaking her head, the Inuzuka's fingernails dug into her palm. "Whatever the case may be **,** we better hurry up and get that scroll back."

"And Naruto," noted Anko.

As the three headed north **,** the trio missed a tag lying on the ground. Its letters glowed for a second before fading out.

* * *

A sharp pain in his shoulder drew the dark elf from his sleep. Grumbling about fires, he slapped at the burning part. When he drew the hand back **,** he saw that a bee had crawled into bed with him. Grumbling, he stood and walked out of the room. He was just heading to the bathroom when a sharp dinging sound drew him to another room. Walking to it, he pulled it open to a room. A large map of the village and its surrounding area plastered to the wall. Small light bulbs dotted it. One of them had turned a bright red and was ringing.

"It's two o'clock in the morning; can't they wait another day?" After getting dressed **,** Gane darted to headquarters. Silver, in his philosopher uniform, leaned back in his chair with his feet on the table. While he read a report, he doodled on a piece of paper. He glanced up to smile at the sealing master.

"Good evening; are you in need of something?"

"Someone just tripped one of the boundary lines to the south of here."

"Oh? Anyone of interest?"

"The light is a bright red, meaning that the enemies are of decent strength. I would say a team with at least one jōnin and a couple of chūnin. Beyond that, it's a guessing game as to who they are."

Leaping out of his chair, the merchant grabbed the dark elf by the shoulder. "Let's fetch Ivy and go greet our guests." On that note, Silver dragged Gane out of the building before he managed to get a word out.

"But Philosopher! Wouldn't it be wiser to send out one of our teams? There are some people who need to prove their loyalty."

"We can worry about that later;right now I need something interesting to do."

Sighing, the seal master rubbed the back of his head. "Should I bother with a disguise?"

"Depend show hostile the group of people we are going to encounter are going to be." With an almost childish grin **,** the merchant rushed into the camp **,** his mind already going through a hundred different ways of toying with his new interest.

* * *

Please leave a review.


	6. Chapter 6

Enjoy the read.

* * *

Chapter Six

Lots of trees grew on the south side of the hill. Their spiny branches iced with snow. Both their sizes and the needles made them unwelcoming to jump upon. So the trio of Leaf shinobi stuck to the main road. At full speed they transverse it. Lucky for them few people lived in the area. The people they came across were stunned when they zoomed by.

They came to a stop when the feral woman held up a hand. "I smell Naruto, but faintly." She gestured to the right of her. "Somewhere off, in that lot of trees." With a nod the trio darted forward. The three spread out to avoid being taken out all at once. Anko wished they could sent the Aburame's insects ahead, but in this cold they would freeze in seconds.

Anko frowned when they spotted the source of the smell. Hacking away at a tree, an elderly man stood alone. His rusty ax chipped away at the wood. With hand signals, she told her team to stay close and stay alert.

The snake mistress shoved her hands into her pockets as she strolled up to the man. "Excuse me, old man." The axman glanced her way. Offering a welcoming smile, Anko studied the man a little more. He wear a worn, but decent red jacket. Brown jeans tucked into his boats. His face was plain. A set of brown eyes sat on his face, she would have mistaken him for anyone else. The only thing giving him character was a small tin cap on top of his head. "Mind helping me for a bit. I'm new to the area and trying to learn the terrain."

"Leaf shinobi" Planting the head of the ax into the snow, the ax man scratch his head. "Aren't you guys supposed to be in the Land of Fire?"

"We have business in these lands." With a gestured of her hands she waved to the north. "Is there any towns out here? We're low in supplies and would like to restock."

"Hm" Leaning against the axe, the old man stared up at the skies. "If my poor little mind remember correctly, there is one in the mountains. The exact location escapes me." With a stupid grin the elder knocked his knuckles against his head. "Can't give you directions, but if you're willing to help me than I can show you the way."

"Sir, I would like to help, but-"

"Thank lass." Reaching behind the tree, the axman shoved a pile of wood in Anko's arms. "And can you get your friends over here as well." He grinned to a couple of trees. "With all four of us this should be easy."

 _He shouldn't have detect them that easily,_ thought Anko. _What is this guy getting at?_ Yet with little more than suspicion, Anko waved her team in. The old man tried to pet the dog, but the dog snapped at his hand. The Inuzuka woman stated something about being a war dog, but she kept a watchful eye on the axman.

"My home isn't far from here. Just a quick trot and we'll be there soon."

Anko kept sending looks to the Inuzuka. Yet each time, she got a confused stare and glanced down at the logs in hand. The snake mistress sniffed the logs and shrugged. They smell alright, though she lack the chakra enchanted nose of her comrade.

They came upon a cabin between two trees. Similar to the owner, the small structure has seen some years. Going up to the door, the axman knocked on it.

"Is that you sweetie?" asked a voice.

"Who else?"

"Then enter the home as if you own it!"

"I would, but I got a few guest. Are you decent?"

"Give me a few moments."

Rubbing the back of his head, the elderly man grinned. "Sorry, but my wife likes to try a few things to feel young again. Would you please excuse me?" The axman entered the house. "I'll be back in a second."

When the door closed shut, a hissing sound drew Anko's attention. Her eyes widen as a kunai tag smoked on the log. Dropping the pile, she leapt back with her comrades copying her as well.

Yet the explosion forgot to come with the bang. Instead, party streamers and a piece of paper shot into the air. Blinking in confusion, Anko drew a kunai and pegged the paper on the log. Several more minutes passed.

Creeping forward, Anko kneeled down. She grabbed the kunai out from the log and opened the paper. Surprise! Proclaimed the note. "That's a lame joke." Just as Anko stood up, the cabin exploded. Splinters flew. The snake mistress blinked before something slammed into her chest. Every rib threatened to snap in two. Skidding across the ground, her eyes widen as a large fist went to her chest.

At the last moment, Anko managed to use substitution with one of the cabin logs, what was left of the cabin roof. She watched the log shattered in thousands of splinters. Her comrades moved in.

The Inuzuka and her dog leapt into the air. "Fang over Fang!" Spinning at rapid speed, they lounged at the creature. Standing up, the ten foot creature colored blood red took a hit to the arm and the Inuzuka bounced off. She leaned back a bit when a second hit slammed into her stomach. Her black shirt with golden wavy design tore apart. Yet blood and flesh refused to move.

With a laugh, the demon grabbed hold of the cyclone and hugged it to her chest. "Creator damn it! I just got this shirt."

"Let go of him!" The second cyclone slammed into the giant's back, but she shrugged the Inuzuka off.

Buzzing brought a smile to Anko's face. _So you can take a couple of hit. Let see you how well you work with little chakra_. As she thought that, she darted off the roof. Whipping out a kunai, she threw it at the demon. Each one hitting a vital spot only to bounce off.

"It's rude to interfere with another fight."

Anko skidded to a stop in front of the ax man. His face pulled back in a grin. Drawing the bone knife, Anko paused when a sharp yelped drew her attention to her right. Her eyes widen as a chain fence arose around them. Sparks of electricity pulse throughout the metal.

"Good reaction time." The axman grinned as the wolf leapt from the demon grasp. Beetles swarmed the fence and ate the chakra on the tags. Once gone, the bug user tore through the chain. "And shows some skill. This may be of interest." Slicing at the axman, Anko frowned when he reappeared on top of the conifer tree.

The snake mistress started after him until the ax man formed a T with his hand. "Time out! Can I get a second to say something?"

"You attack us out of the blue and then ask to talk?" Grabbing a second kunai, Anko crouched down. "Give me one good reason why should listen."

Chuckling, the axman grabbed his clothing. "Forgive me for being so rude. Ivy! Gane!"

Ivy and Gane appeared by the tree. Grinning, the demon turned toward the bug user. The dark elf leaned against the tree. Glancing to their leader, the Leaf shinobi asked for orders. Anko shrugged. This was the first time anyone stopped attacking her just to talk. Might as well take advantage of it.

"Alright-"

Throwing off his clothes, the ax man reveled the traditional clothing underneath. He grabbed his hat, threw it up in the air, and snapped his finger. It disappeared. With another snap, the mask appeared on his face.

"You may call me the Philosopher. Excuse the crude joke from earlier, but I just needed to make sure that you are what you said."

"Crude joke?" Jabbing a kunai at the direction of the cabin, Anko death glared the Philosopher. "Your beast over there almost killed me."

"Hey!" Ivy pouted. "Just because I scared you, doesn't mean you can call me names."

"Whatever. What the hell do you guys want anyway?"

"For you to leave." Holding his hand out, the air around the Philosopher rippled and a long, narrow sword appeared in his hand. He jabbed it to the north. "Go back to your home."

"I'm afraid that isn't possible. We're here on an important mission."

"The retrieval of a certain blonde."

Narrowing her eyes, Anko imagined her blade going right through that mask. "That's correct. Happen to know where he is?"

"He's safe and sound." Crossing his arms, the masked man grin. "Doing far better than he could back in your village. When I'm done with him, he will be returned."

"You honestly expect me to believe that?"

Shrugging, the Philosopher leapt off the tree and landed. "Probably not. Though it beg the question, why a team of shinobi want the boy back so badly. Last time, I check he was little more than a graduate student. Invading another nation just to get him seemed out of place."

The masked man planted the tip of the blade into the tree branch into the earth. "Oh well, you may keep your secrets. You shinobi loved them so much that war is better than talking." Bowing his head, the mask man's silver eyes gleamed. "I recommend that you keep this a secret if you like to live a little longer."

Sprinting forward, Anko sliced for flesh, but empty air greeted her. She twirled around just in time for her bone knife to catch the blade. Yet the sword pushed her arm aside while a second hand shot forward. A knife popped out of it. It nicked Anko's cheek as she returned.

"So you're not as slow as you appear." Grinning, the Philosopher disappeared. "Too bad that I'm faster."

"I got bug man!" Ivy charged forward and forced the Aburame to retreat. The feral woman tried to give support but a pair of kunai pegged the ground in front of her. Hissing tags forced her to retreat.

"Aw, it look like everyone is getting to get personal." Silver grinned. Anko tossed a kunai in the direction of the voice. Laughter followed. "Come now? If you attack a voice, people will think you mad." Anko sent a silence pray to her comrades before darting after her target.

* * *

Ivy had one plan and it was to smash the bug man under her fist. Yet her hand crashed through the man's chest and insects rush onto her arm. Leaping away, the demon wiped the few bugs off her skin. Their pinchers tickled each time they bit. Skidding to a stop, she scanned the area for her target.

Standing upside down, the Aburame stared her down behind a pair of glasses. Only his spiky hair seemed to give him any character. Huffing, the demon got into a crouch. She watched the small swarm of beetles retreat to their master. Sluggish in flight and a good many of them ready to drop.

 _This was the wrong type of area for a bug user_ , thought the demon. _If his insect stay to long out in the cold they'll die._ Grinning, the demon sprinted forward. So she could knock the bastard off his perch.

Slamming into the tree, Ivy snapped the trunk in half. The Aburame leapt off and darted away. With a shake of the head, the demon gave chase. Despite the calm face demeanor, she doubted the Leaf shinobi expect her to be right on top of him. Her fist slammed into the earth and a crater form.

The Aburame slid back into a conifer. He ducked under a swiping arm. Ivy's fist broke multiple branches at once. Lunging forward, the Aburame slammed a fist into the demon stomach. His eyebrow knitted when bone cracked. Laughing, the demon lightly flicked him in the jaw. He flew into a tree to his right. Snow collapsed onto him as he fell to the ground.

"You must have heard of Tsunade." Cracking her neck, the demon dashed forward and plowed a hand into a snow bank. She rolled her eyes upon hitting ice. "If I remember correctly she is one of the strongest women in the world." Yanking her hand out of the snow, the demon flex her fingers. "She might match in strength, but I beat her in defense."

Scanning the area, the demon saw spots of blood on the snow. A smirk formed as the demon followed it. It ended with the Leaf shinobi leaning on a tree. His high collar torn and his lower jaw shattered. Ivy rushed forward. Just as she got to him a small swarm of bugs hit her in the chest.

As she stumble back, large numbers of insects popped out of the snow and the tree branches. For a split second, Ivy wondered how that was possible. Then she noticed how closely bunched the insects were.

They shared body heat long enough to stay hidden. Shaking her head, Ivy closed her mouth and eyes as the bugs swarmed her. On pure memory alone, she charged the nearest tree. The collision knocked the snow onto her. She felt a good number come off, but the insects kept biting her.

Throwing herself to the ground, she rolled about. After a few seconds she came to a stop and laid there. Fog flowed from her lips. Crunching of snow drew her attention to the Aburame, with a piece of his clothing, tried to close his mouth.

Ivy flipped onto all four and lunged. Before the Leaf shinobi could react, she grabbed hold of his head. With a shout, she twirled around and slammed him into a trunk. His head imploded. Blood, skull, and brain matter squished out. Withdrawing her hand, she let the lifeless body fell to the ground. Insect swarmed out, but moved to slow to catch her.

"So those are the beetles that suck away at people's chakra." A tiny pinch drew the demon's eyes to one of the bugs. "Look like my skin is too tough for you." Smashing the insect, she glanced to her right. "Silver is properly having fun at the moment. Better wait on Gane." Sitting down, she ignore the angry, dying swarm behind her.

* * *

Summoning a brick wall, the dark elf grimace when the two twisters plowed on through. His hands yanked out several scrolls and summoned a pair of one shot pistols. He aimed one at a twisters, but pulled away from the attack.

 _One trick ponies, but they're speed makes it difficult to get a good hit in. Putting_ a gun away, the dark elf summoned another gun to hand. _Let see if this help a bit._

Gane fired the gun at the ground. The moment the bullet strike a tree, it shot upward. The Leaf shinobi yelped as a leafy tree branches caught her and her mutt. Putting the guns away, the dark elf grabbed for tags from his wrist. He planted one on the trunk before leaping to another branch. Just as he smacked another, one of the feral duo tear down side of the tree. Ducking, the dark elf slapped a tag under him.

Cracks from under him sent him leaping into the air. The mutt of the duo shot upward and slammed into his side. Gane twirled through the air until he smacked a hand against the trunk. Chakra slowed him down enough for him to get a grab. He summoned another pistol and waited. Broking of wood alerted him that his foes came in both directions.

"That got me on speed." Gane glanced between two whirling masses. "I think I'm now know why these Leaf Shinobi are called number one." With a grin he pointed to the bark in front of him. "Hope they can survive this." He pulled the trigger and the bullet strike bark.

Both twisters pulled back as an explosion tear apart the wood. Landing on a nearby branch, the Inuzuka rubbed her nose. The acidic smell of smoke annoyed her. Yet she quickly picked up on her foe's scent.

Grinning, she leapt off the branch. "Fang over Fang!" She and her partner flew through air. Unable to see her target, she allowed her nose to guide her. A grin formed when she heard a loud snap. It fade away when some liquid fall on her.

It burned on contact. Her nostrils shriek in pain. With an angry scream, she fell onto a tree branch. Her hands clawed away at her burning skin. A red powder melded with it. She tried blowing her nose, but the stuff seemed stick to her.

"Look out!" called out her partner.

The feral woman heard a faint pop. She gasped as a knife pierced her body. Stumbling back, she glared at the barred metal. Dozens more pops filled the air. She scanned the area to see dozens of knifes attached to chains charged her. Slipping from her neck, her hand band slammed into the tip of the knife. She tried to run, but the barbed hook hold her in place. The chain attached to the trunk.

"Shit," The Inuzuka gasped as each knife stabbed into her body. Blood pooled at her feet. As she stumbled back, she glanced to the way she came. A smirk formed when she saw the strew man lying on the ground. A shredded cloth laid around it. "Damn it" Collapsing, she fall onto the ground.

Standing up from behind a thick foliage of leaves, Gane sighed. His right arm burned. "Scorpion mating successful." The dark elf tense up upon seeing the dog. Yet it did little more than walked up to the body and laid down. Licking the face, the dog cleaned away the blood. Gane jumped to the tree branch. "Sorry for taking her away."

"What will you do now?"

"We will not deny your family the right to the body. Once everything is over we will return it back to the village."

"How kind of you."

The dark elf shrugged. "Back home, it is common courtesy to return the dead when possible." Summoning a firearm, Gane shook his head. "Though I'm afraid you can't carry her back. My friend's secret must stay that way for now."

Growling, the wolf lunged at the dark elf. The gun went off and Gane sidestepped the falling body. Just as it hit the branch, he summoned another pistol and shot the loyal servant in the back.

Gane kneeled beside the body. "I hope your next life will be more peaceful then this one." Plopping onto his butt, he sighed. "Better meet up with Ivy, but she can wait a few minutes." He glanced to the torn body. "That's going to be a pain to remove. I should have gone with gas. Chill powder is far too much."

* * *

Laughter ripped from the merchant's mouth as a barrage of knives flew around him. Landing on the top of a tree, he whipped his sword forward and batted away several of the kunai. A fourth knife cut the back of his hand and strike wood. His purser weaved a series of signs before flames leapt out of her mouth onto the lines.

Rolling his eyes, Silver snatched the kunai off and threw it back. Yet as he did so, the flames leapt onto several invisible wires. Three of them slammed into the tree that surrounded him. The snow hissed as it melted. The fourth flame strike the wood where Silver once stood.

Dropping to the ground, Silver nodded to Anko a few feet away. Her fist lashed out and a nest of snake spring out of the sleeves. Roaring with laughter, the merchant spun his blade and hacked off the snakes' head. One snake bit into his body, but his knife plowed into the head. With a flick of the wrist Silver threw it off.

Placing the sword into his mouth, the merchant used a single hand he weave signs. He slammed his palm into the earth. A wild gleam flashed his eye as he stared the snake mistress down.

"My turn," muttered Silver. "Earth Style: Great Belch." Silver yanked his hand upper ward and a portion of the earth followed. Shaped as a giant tube it aimed right for Anko's chest. "Fire!"

Cursing, the kunoichi pumped chakra to her feet and took to the air. Shards of earth tore off portion of her sandal. Anything that stood in the path of the fire was shredded to pieces. Anko shoved her hand to her right and summoned another nest of snakes.

They wrapped around a tree and pulled her over to it. Upon landing, she summoned a kunai to hand. Yet the merchant saluted her. A generous smile on his face.

"The pretty lady know some tricks." Summoning a camera, the merchant kneeled down. "Mind holding there for a moment. It will make for a good picture." Silver flicked his blade upward to knock away a kunai. "No. You look more menacing with the knife in hand." The merchant got the snarling Anko a thumb up. "Perfect. Now hold still."

Of course, Anko leapt through the air. Fire blow out of her mouth. Silver rolled to the side. Just as he stood he aimed his camera at the approaching Anko.

"Smile!"

The bright flash blinked the snake mistress. She swiped at the merchant, but he scrambled back. Yet as he stepped on melted snow, he slid back.

"Oh, ice skating." Striking a pose, the merchant slid several feet. "That's a lovely thought. Two star struck lovers skating across a frozen lake. Moonlight create an aura of pure joy."

"Shut up!" Anko faced burned red with self-righteous fury. Doing anything to win a fight was fine with her. She could name a few where she used a cheap trick to finish her foe. Yet as that grin stayed, it angered her.

Silver smile widen at the barrages of knife strikes seek for his flesh. Yet his thin blade meet every strike. His finger snapped a picture every second while he slide across the ground. Upon hitting solid snow, the merchant twirled to the right. Anko tried to follow, but the ice she created tripped her. With one more snapped of the camera Silver got behind Anko. His blade pressed against her throat.

"That was enjoyable." Facing the camera at himself, the merchant grinned. "Let take a photo to celebrate my victory."

Anko grabbed hold of the blade and pushed it away. Yanking his sword out, the merchant frowned. He opened his mouth to say something, but the snake mistress turned around and slammed her hand into the snow.

"Summoning Jutsu."

Silver's eyes gleamed as he leapt away. Striking out of the smoke, a giant brown snake slammed into the ground. Its enchanting eyes had the merchant grinning.

"What a handsome worm."

"Worm?" Standing tall, the serpent glared the merchant. "Are you trying to piss me off?"

"Ignore him." Standing on top of the serpent's head, Anko crossed her arms. "This guy action are insane. I advise eating him whole and crapping his remain in a fiery pit."

"Geez." Shrugging, the merchant shook his head. "I know our relationship is quite sour, but is that call for."

The snake plowed into snow. Leaping overhead, Silver took several pictures before landing on the serpent back. He dashed down it. "Time out for a moment." The merchant formed an x with his arms. "I need to get something to eat!" With that said he made his camera disappeared and summoned a large brownie in hand.

"Where the hell did you did find this guy?" asked the snake.

"Hey, the guy found me." Anko jabbed a finger forward. "After him. I'll provide support."

"Of course."

Silver felt the ground below him heaved up. A little chakra kept him on. Glancing behind his back, he waved at the approaching snake as he eat his snack. He got to the tail and leapt off. The serpent snapped his own body.

"Hey look!" Silver jabbed his sword at the circular snake. "We got eternity to stay with one another." Spitting his tail out, the serpent hissed. Silver stuffed his brownie into his mouth when a fireball chased him. "Give me a moment to finish this brownie. Then I can take more pictures."

Silver summoned the camera. Just as he pointed it at the snake, the seperant curled around him. The merchant's eyes gleamed as the fangs came at him. When they snapped empty air the snake blinked in confusion.

"A little slow aren't you?" Crouching down on the tree, Silver took pictures of the snake mistress and summoned. "No surprise there. A worm just as you, belong in the earth." Narrowing his eyes, the serpent moved. Yet before it got far, Silver reappeared on another tree. "Come now. Aren't you summoning animals supposed to be special?"

"Anko!" cried out the snake.

Spinning around, the snake mistress readied her kunai. Yet the merchant kept moving from to tree to tree. At least, that's what they thought they were seeing. Silver chuckled in private. As much fun he was having, he had work to do.

"Alright worm." Getting rid of the camera, Silver summoned a knife in hand. "It's time that we end our game." Grabbing his sword with both hands, he spring into the air and drove it into the snake's eye. Recoiling back, the summoned howled.

"That's it!" shouted the snake. "I'm going make this guy suffer!"

"Sorry" Leaping off of the snake, Silver summoned several kunai with an explosion tags tied to them. "But I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Silver threw all of the knives into the serpent mouth.

The hissing tag exploded. With a final howl, the snake poofed away. Dropping to the ground, Anko breathed heavily. Silver darted forward. Just before impact he summoned six inch long knife with a straight back.

Anko sense him and managed to draw the bone knife to defend herself. Forcing his enemy back a couple steps, Silver reached into the air. His twirling blade fell into his hand. With a laugh, the merchant fell into a peculiar stance. Standing perpendicular to his foe, he jabbed the sharp point of the sword forward. The knife acted as a counterbalance.

Silver launched a barrage of jabs for tender flesh. "Come now my dear. Is that the best the Leaf have to offer?" Holding her tongue, the snake mistress tried to retreat. Despite his odd footwork, the merchant kept pace. When she tried to counterattack, Silver's second blade blocked it.

Yawning, the merchant leapt back. He tossed the knife to the ground while stabbing his blade down. Anko crouched down as the merchant summon a muffin.

"Is there a garbage can around here?" Peeling off the wrapper, Silver scanned the area. "I would hate to litter."

"I could burn it for you." Bringing her hands together, Anko stared Silver down. "If you like."

"Really now." Sitting down, the merchant run a finger across the slick ground. "I do believe I'm several dozen yards away. Depending on your fire jutsu, I should be out of range." Silver munched on the muffin. "Then again, you people have this thing called a will of fire. Must help with putting hot air into your mouth. You guys need it to help keep pace with the other villages."

Tired of Silver voice Anko charged. She got a couple feet when her feet stared to slide. Chakra rushed to her feet, but the slick surface refused to give any friction. With a roll of his eye the merchant spin around. His foot kicked up the knife. Just as he caught it in his free hand Anko came in range.

"Sorry." Silver drove the knife through Anko's clasped hands. The force sent her diving in the snow. Gritting her teeth, the snake mistress stumbled to her feet. The merchant summoned a sheath for the blade which he smashed into Anko's shoulder. This stunned her long enough for Silver to catch the sword and point it at her neck. Blinking, the snake mistress glared at the merchant. "What are you waiting for?"

Silver bit into another muffin. "For you to surrender. You had been beaten. Keep resisting and your life is forfeit." Anko rolled away. The blade pieced her cheek. Darting to her feet, she run. Sighing, the merchant finished his muffin. He shoved the wrapper into his pocket while Anko tripped on the ice.

"I got to thank you for summoning the snake." Appearing in front of Anko, the merchant grabbed her by the shoulder. "Compact snow is quite slick."

"Just kill me already."

"Na. I think it is best that we take you prisoner for the time being."

Gane appeared beside Silver. He slammed a tag into Anko's neck. With a final curse she fell asleep. Yet she still managed to use the knife embedded into her hand to jab the merchant in the leg. Laughing, Silver yanked the blade out of his leg. "Willing to inflict pain to the last breath. Crazy, aren't we."

"Silver." Gane flipped Anko onto her back. "Are you sure you want a prisoner? We're supposed to be teachers."

"And sometimes, a teacher has to fight to protect their school." Yanking up his pant leg, Silver summoned his hat. "What are the status of her comrades?"

"I killed both the wild woman and the dog. Ivy probably finished by now."

"Of course. She never take joy in work." Silver took out bandages from his hat. "She'll be a guest for a while. I wanted her taken care of as if she is a princess. Got it."

"Understand. I just hope you know what you're doing."

Huffing, the merchant stood. "Please, if the world knew what is need to be done there would be no need for soldiers or preachers."

* * *

Curled up in a corner of the room, Naruto glared at the shinobi surrounding him. Several looked at him as if a wild beast that been let out. He had several thick chains keeping him in place. The rest, who appeared to be civilians, appeared confused. A couple of them happened to be there when the Nine-Tails give him his chakra.

 _Or was it my own chakra?_ The blonde was still baffled by the thought. It would explained everything, why the village hated him. Echo of demons ringed in his mind. Their voices condemning him for the deaths of villagers. _Shut up! I didn't do it_. Yet the more he thought upon it, the more sense it become. Tears collect in his eyes. _Damn it all!_

"Why is there so many people in my house?" asked a familiar voice. Climbing down the stairs, Fu rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. She wear little more than an oversize shirt with cartoonish beetles running across it. Yet her intense stare caused the grown men to shuffle in place.

One of the civilians bowed. "Miss Fu, I'm sorry to walk you during the night. Do you happen to know where your father went?"

"My best guess, he found something of interest and darted off." Storming up to the blonde, the vertette kneeled. "Are you guys practicing BDSM? I know Father invite people over for excitement, but I doubt he would be interest in this. "A few of the people there blushed while Naruto stared at the ground. He felt his goggles move up his head. Then Fu stared poking him on the forehead.

"Hey Whiskers, what trouble did you got into this time?"

"I didn't do anything!" Naruto stared Fu in the eyes. "Apparently, I got the nine-tails fox living in my stomach."

"Is that all." Grabbing a thick chain, the vertette snapped it in two. "Seriously, get out of the house."

"By Miss Dollar-" said a shinobi.

"I can handle me. Now get out." Bowing, the group left the room. With a shake of her head Fu pulled Naruto onto his feet. She waved a hand for him to follow. Blinking, the blonde followed. Sitting down at the kitchen table, Fu patted the table. "Sit on down. Want anything to eat or drink?"

"Got any ramen?" Plopping into the chair, the blonde groaned. "I haven't eaten any in the past week."

"Nope." The vertette strolled over to the counter and opened a jar. When she came back she place several white peppers. "Want one of those?" Grabbing the steam off of the pepper, the blonde stared at it. "How hot is it?"

"It's not too bad." Fu chomped down on several hot peppers in quick succession. With a shrug, Naruto bite off a small piece of the pepper. Heat danced around his tongue, yet it felt fine. The blonde gulped down the rest of it. Smiling, he reached for another pepper, but Fu held up a hand. Frowning, Naruto opened his mouth. Then the heat sneak on him. His face grew a bright red as flames scorched his tongue. Clamping a hand over his mouth, Naruto stood up. Fu planted him back down in his chair then she walked over to the fridge.

"Whiskers, you are not the nine-tails fox." Grabbing a carton of milk and glass, Fu placed it in front of the blonde. Naruto gulped the milk from the carton. Sighing, the vertette sat back down, placing the carton down. Naruto shook his head, "I killed people."

"No, the nine-tailed fox killed people. You're just his prison or Jinchūriki." That earned her a blink stare. "Jinchūriki are containers of the tailed beast."

"Doesn't that make me the nine-tails?" Laying her head on the table, Fu sighed. "Then that would make me the Seven Tailed Beetle."

"Who?"

"Okay. I take it that your village took a lot of effort in making you ignorant. Including our tailed beast, there are nine in total. Last I heard, most of them are being force to serve the shinobi villages."

 _That's an interesting set of words_ , said the Nine Tails.

Leaping in his seat, Naruto grabbed his head. "Do you have to talk all of a sudden?"

Fu chuckled. "Careful there. People will think you insane if you burst out like that."

"But doesn't that prove that I'm the fox."

Sighing, Fu leaned on the table. "Whiskers, you're aware what a sealing scroll is, right?" The blonde nodded. "Wait right there." The vertette left the room and returned with a scroll. She grabbed one of her chill peppers. "Now, I got a chiller pepper in hand, yes." Receiving a nod, the vertette sealed the chill pepper. She then tossed the scroll to the blonde who caught it. "Now you're holding the chill pepper."

Naruto frowned. "No, I'm holding a scroll."

Shaking her head, the vertette jabbed a finger at the scroll. "But I sealed the chill pepper in it."

"Just because you seal it away doesn't mean…"

Slapping her forehead, the vertette grinned. "And the idiot figures it out."

"But the chill pepper isn't the same thing as the scroll." Touching his stomach, the blonde stared down. "This beast have a mind of its own."

 _One that plans to speak out whenever possible. Oh, when you met that merchant thanks him for getting rid of the tacky orange suit_ , The Nine Tails added in.

"You're right." Leaning back in the chair, Fu clapped a hand to her shoulder. "Like the seven tailed beast- sorry- the Lucky Seven Tailed Chōmei inside me, it has its own thoughts and desires. The seals on our bodies can be weaken or strengthen by strong emotions. Yet if we can maintain ourselves and not do anything too stupid, Jinchūriki are harmless."

"Yet the villages want us because the tail beast give us power."

"Good, you are using your head. Though I rather enter that discussion another time. It way too depressing to think about." Standing, Fu stretched her arms. "Care to sleep in the living room. The couch is comfy."

"That would be nice, but how can I trust you about this?"

"I can show you another time. I want to sleep."

"Fine, but you're showing me tomorrow."

"Just take care to turn the lights off. Father will have a hissy fit if we left them on."

* * *

Please leave behind a review.


	7. Chapter 7

Hello readers! Mulleb's here. Being in college I will try to update this as much as possible, but please note that updates may take time. I should also state that I have the full story for this fanfic written out. I just need someone to beta it and finding and keeping one seemed to be difficult at the moment.

If you enjoy Undertale or Avatar: The last airbender I just posted a couple of fics onto the site. The Undertale story is called The Fourth Path while the other is called Book One: Disaster. Just look on my profile to see a full summary for both if your interested.

Enjoy the read.

* * *

Chapter Seven

Groaning, Anko placed a hand to her head. She tried opening her eyes, but light pounded her skull. Curses flow from her tongue as she tried to focus. Forcing herself to breath, she worked on opening her eyes. It took several minutes for them to adjust and for the headache to become bearable.

A frown formed upon seeing a solid wall colored a calming blue. She turned around to be greeted by more walls. Leaning on a hand, she felt cloth rubbed against flesh. Anko glanced down to see her entire hand bandaged up. The floor underneath her were green cushions.

The kunoichi tried to take the bandages off, but her other bandaged hand just scrapped the cloth. "What the hell?" She thought of using her teeth, but memories of her failed fight returned to her.

"That philosopher guy." Standing, Anko scanned the room for an escape. The ceiling appeared to be concrete. Air holes were hidden well. "He knocked me out. I must be his prisoner." Habit made her reach for her a kunai. Of course, the spot was empty. Yet she felt an odd object there.

Looking at herself, Anko blinked. Someone stripped her out of her clothes and forced her into a pair of sweat pants and a plain black shirt. They left her sandals, but when she reached for her headband she felt flesh.

"What pervert stole someone clothes?" Shaking her head, the snake mistress strolled over to the wall. "Well, I'm not going anywhere in this condition. Might as well see if I can catch someone attention. Hey perverts! How long are you going to keep me in this dungeon?"

Silence answered her. Anko knocked on the walls and shouted. If people heard they ignored her. Flopping onto the floor, the kunoichi stared up at the ceiling. This would be her first time being capture, but she steel herself for the interrogation to come.

The waiting proved tortuous. When grounding stone drew her from a daze she leapt to her feet. A young man around Anko's age dropped through a hole. Light orange hair covered his ears. Twinkling green eyes accompanied a plump face. A bread surrounded his face. He dressed in light tan pants and green shirt. Embedded into his forehead was a small ruby.

Yet what caught Anko's attention was the guy's stance. Loose and relax his motion appeared to be that of a civilian. A polite smile crossed his face.

"Good evening." The young man bowed. "My name is Kattā. I'll be-"

Anko rushed the man and plowed into him. As he went to the floor she leapt to the hole. She yelped when a hand grabbed onto her ankle and yanked her down. Falling face first, the snake mistress growled at the groaning of rock.

"Well that was stupid of me." Kattā released Anko. "I'm still getting use to the fact people will attack me. Whatever your name maybe can you refine from fighting. I may not have experience as you do, but I have some training in the chakra arts."

Flipping onto her butt, Anko grimace. "Get to the point."

"I'm just here to make sure that you're awake." The orange-haired man chuckled. "Based on your current actions you're doing well. Care for something to eat or drink?"

Getting into sitting position, the kunoichi rubbed the back of her head. "How long had I been here?"

"My best guess is half a day." Kattā joined Anko on the floor. "If you have any question or request don't be afraid to ask."

The kunoichi blinked. "Okay, where am I?"

"I'm not allow to say for the safety of the people here."

"What about my teammates?"

"Dead, but their bodies are being shipped back home."

Anko bit her lower lips. "How long will I be here?"

Shrugging, Kattā gestured to the sky. "Whenever the heaven's think it fits. In this case, when the Philosopher believe that you won't try to kill us all." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a book. "Which may take a while. I just grabbed the first think I saw. If you want something else I can go get it for you."

The kunoichi took the book and studied it. A plain novel that could be found in almost any library. Placing the book down, Anko sighed.

"Well, it's best to get comfortable." The snake mistress flopped onto her back.

Standing, the civilian pocketed his hands. "That would be best. The Philosopher will visit soon. You'll be feed regularly."

"Grand."

Kattā pulled a hand out of his pocket and pulled out a small bell. It's soft chimes were pleasing to the ears. Dizziness overcame Anko and she grip her head. A slab of the roof opened up. After a bow Kattā leapt through the hole. The slab slammed back into place.

Staring at the roof, the kunoichi licked her lips. She had little idea of what to make of that little visit. It would be easier if they just clasped her in chains and started stabbing her in the stomach.

If they are being idiots then let them. Lifting her hands, she stared at them. The bones are broken. I just need time to heal and figure out what the hell is going on. She flipped onto her stomach and tried to open the book. She then remember the joys of having flexible fingers. Opening the cover prove easy, but she flipped half a dozen pages. "Okay, first thing I need is a servant."

* * *

The Third Hokage puffed away at his pipe. His head bowed in respect to the bodies covered in blankets. Medics raised around the small square rooms. Machines working overtime to figure what happened to the pair.

One medic rushed up to him with a spreadsheet in hand. "Sir, my people had run through the test a second time now and they came back negative. Besides for the obvious damages, their bodies had been left untouched." Shaking his head, the medic handed the board over to the Hokage. "Whoever brought the bodies are doing so for the sake of it."

Hiruzen's experience told him otherwise, but the facts proved difficult to understand. After a week of Anko's teams departure, two of the three member plus dog showed up dead at the village's gate. A missing head and multiple stabbed wounds told of the violet death. Yet for one of the other villages to give back a pair of shinobi's- powerful ones- whole surprised him.

Handing the board back, Hiruzen strolled off. "Keep checking their bodies. I got work to attend to."

"Of course my lord."

The Third Hokage walked through his village. He grinned to his people, but forced himself to keep his distance. They were enjoying the festival for the disappearance of the Nine-Tails Fox or better known as Naruto. His disappearance kept quiet until someone noticed the blonde had been too quiet. Of course, the adults insisted that they were celebrating a harvest festival earlier. The law on Nartuo's secret was still enforced.

Yet before he could reach his office a fellow elder paused in front of him. Dressed in robes the old man used a cane to walk. Messy brown hair sit on top of a head half covered in bandages. A singe eyes and a chinned scared by an x remained uncovered. His left arm and hand suspended in a sling and bandaged.

Tipping his hat, the Hiruzen smiled. "Good afternoon Danzo. I hope you're enjoying your walk."

The bandaged man's face remained stern. "It had been good. Last council meeting had went will." Cupping his chin, Danzo sighed. "Though I still find it a little weak of us to accept that trade agreement with the Waterfall. We could have easily wrestle out a better deal."

"It was a fair deal. We got what we want."

"Care if I walk with you. I wish to talk."

Nodding, the Hokage started off. "I was just heading back to work. What is it that you need?"

"I recently heard of some disturbing news."

"Oh."

"Our jinchūriki had disappeared without a trace."

"Sadly, Naruto had disappeared." The Hokage stroke his goatee. "Since he disappeared at the same time as the scroll some of our more prominent civilians demand that Naruto be trialed for it."

"That's stupidity. By himself the boy shouldn't had made it out of the country. No, I have a strong feeling that's he had assistance."

"Oh." Hiruzen glanced to his old friend. "Have any idea who it may be?"

"My shinobi's days are over, but I had heard rumors." The bandaged stared his leader in the eyes. "Have you ever heard of the Philosopher?"

"Can't say I have."

"It would seem that a man is going around teaching civilians how to use chakra."

Breathing in a bit of spit, the Hokage choked. He tear out his pipe and pounded a fist on his chest. Danzo waited for his friend's throat to clear. The Hokage waved to a nearby bench. They both sat down.

"Why hadn't I heard of this before?" asked Hiruzen.

"My best guess is that no one sure if it true. People said that a mystery man wearing a fox mask entered many towns. His guard are a said to be monsters. One of them a giant of a woman with claws and red skin. The other a dark skin being and able to summon anything to hand."

"This is starting to sound a bit of a myth."

"Myth or not, there maybe someone going around teaching chakra to the masses. At the same time someone came along and steal both the Forbidden Scroll and our jinchūriki. Granted, this could just be one of the villages spreading rumors to keep us off track."

Standing, Danzo bowed to the Hokage. "Just keep it in mind, my friend. The safety of this village is your top priority." The bandaged man walked off.

"Have a good day." The Hokage kept his smile until Danzo disappeared. "Raven."

A masked shinobi dropped beside the bench. "Yes sir."

"Why have he heard of this before I did?"

"Our agents out on the fields might have though it unimportant. If you were to ask me sir the possibility of someone teaching civilian is slim."

"Still, I want the possibility look into." The Third Hokage placed his pipe back into his mouth. "A renegade shinobi can be a danger to the village."

"Of course sir." The masked shinobi disappeared.

Continuing his walk, the Hokage puffed on his pipe. His thoughts turned to Naruto. Despite his trouble making, the Third enjoyed the youth's company. A grinned formed as the smell of ramen caught his nose. The boy would eat nothing but ramen if given the choice. Blinking, he turned around to find himself standing outside of the blonde's favorite ramen shop.

"A quick snack would be good." Entering the shop, the Hokage sent a quick pray to above. Religion had little importance in his life, but when fate was in control any help can be of use. All he asked is that the blonde is safe.

* * *

Naruto gasped as a knee jammed into his stomach. His foe went into a spin and his leg went to the blonde's arm. Grinning, Naruto caught the foot and slide across the ground. Before the leg got away he grabbed hold of it and twisted it. This force his foe to hop on one foot.

"Hey!" shouted the man. "No fair."

"All is fair in love and war." Fu said this while ducking under a lashing punch. Her elbow jamming into the guy's chin. "Isn't that right, Kattā-sensei?"

Sitting on the floor, Kattā picked at his ear. "True, but it also depend on how much damage you want to cause a person. Knocking a tooth is going to deduce points."

Naruto spin the leg and his foe slammed into the ground face first. "That's my fourth win! Can I fight Fu yet?"

"Four wins out of twelve." Bouncing over to Naruto, Fu knocked him on the head. "Whiskers, you need to do better than that to face me."

"But he is getting better." Sitting up, Naruto's foe grinned. His hand scratched the back of her head. "Last time he faced me he lost every time."

"Hey! That's because you kept cheating."

"Naruto, I think a civilian with strong arms could beat you."

"If they could catch him." Fu grabbed Naruto by the sleeve. "Break time!"

"But I need to keep training!" The blonde tried to pull away, but managed only to straggle himself.

"You had been working on sealing since seven in the morning and skipped lunch to practice taijutsu. How are you not starving?"

 _I thought I told you already_ , groaned the fox. _Due to my chakra your body feels less hungry. Yet my chakra can only give you a fill feeling. You'll wither away if you don't eat._

 _I still need to train_ , replied the blonde.

"You can keep training after launch." Fu dragged Naruto to the end of the dojo. Its main body consisted of mat. Tapes cut across them to form fighting areas. Several teachers watched over the fighters. Ivy sat on the floor and took a beating from several people. Her thick skin protected her from any danger.

A restaurant had been set in the southern wall. "Hey Unya." Turning around, an angel waved a hand at them.

"Good afternoon Fu. What can I get for the two of you?"

"Ramen!" proclaimed the blonde.

"I already told you we don't serve any."

Pouting, the blonde crossed his arms. "I still want ramen."

"Just give me a chicken sandwich and give Whisker a hot dog bento box."

"On it."

As the angel cooked Naruto and Fu joined a group of kids about their age. Habit had the blonde wanting to find a seclude spot, but the vertette forced him to sit down with the group. For several moments Naruto kept to himself and listened to the conversation. Yet his outgoing nature got the best of him and he joined in.

"Hold up!" exclaimed one of the kids. "How is it even possible to put a gallon of paint into the Hokage's hat?"

"It wasn't easy." Grinning from ear to ear, the blonde crossed his arms. "But once I snatch the hat all I had to do is hand it over to him and plopped! He spent the next week in getting paint out of his hair."

Laughter ringed through the crowd. "How are you still alive?"

"The old man is a good sport. Though I still had to spent time cleaning up the park for trash."

Chewing on her sandwich, Fu kept her silence. She paused when a person rushed up to Ivy. He kneeled down and said a quick words. One of her foes assaulted her. Ivy blocked with the back of her hand and shoved the man away.

"Sorry guys, but I got to see the Philosopher." Standing, the demon strolled to the door.

"Another assignment?" Fu called after Ivy.

"Look like I'm need in clearing an area."

"Assignment?" asked Naruto.

"That nothing you need to worry about," said one of the kids. "The Philosopher offer his shinobi services to the surrounding areas. It's similar to how the Hidden Villages to the other villages, though much cheaper and more for advertisement than to get rich."

Jumping to his feet, the blonde punched his fist into the air. "That sound good to me." He got to steps when Fu's grabbed him by the shoulder.

"Lunch first. Adventure later."

"Fine." Plopping onto his butt, Naruto shoveled his food into his mouth. He gulped it all down and threw the box into a trash can. "Lit gu!" Mouth still fill the blonde dashed away. Shaking her head, Fu followed.

Plowing through the Philosopher's office door, Naruto stormed over to the desk. Ivy and Silver glanced their way. The sooner blinked in confusion while the later smiled.

"Hello, Naruto." Silver tipped his hat. "How can I help you?"

Naruto jabbed a finger at Ivy. "She's going on an assignment, right?"

"Yes I am." Patting Naruto on the shoulder, Ivy flicked a finger to the west. "There a group of rouge shinobi making a mess of things on a nearby island."

"And Ivy and two other colleagues need to teach the people there how to grow a backbone." Resting his elbows on the table, the merchant placed his chin on entangled hands. "Though that is of little importance to you."

"But I want to see shinobi in action." Crossing his arms, the blonde pouted. "Back home I would be part of a team, learning amazing jutsu, and kicking shinobi asses." A cane bounced off Naruto's head and he stumbled back. Fu was in the right place to catch him.

Catching his cane, the merchant shock his head. "Watch your language. I heard that your lesson in the sealing arts are doing well. Hell, you're teacher thick that Gane should take over as your instructor once you learn the basic."

Naruto peeled out of Fu's grip. "Look, the sealing is neat and all. It might help me connect with my ancestors and at some point I would like to show them what I can do." Folding his arms, he pouted. "But I need real experience. I need jutsu that can help become Hokage."

Shaking her head, Fu squeezed her fellow jinchūriki's shoulder. "Whiskers, you do not want to go on this assignment. We got others that are far safer than this. Isn't that right, Father?"

"And invading my village was safe?" Naruto stared at Fu. "What about you?"

"Fu is a capable warrior, but unless given my permission she is restricted from mission that required direct combat." Pushing away from the table, the Philosopher stood. " I can understand your argument."

"You do?" said the females in union.

"Ivy, you and Raiga make sure Naruto survive this mission."

A grin crossed the blonde's face. "How long will I be gone?"

"It's hardly a day trip." Silver jabbed a finger to the north. "Hop over to the island, remind the rouges that there are bigger bullies, and get back her before dinner. Simple, really."

Marching over to the merchant, the demon reached out as if to contain her superior. "Sir, he just a kid."

"Who wish to become a shinobi." Silver leaned back in his chair and twirled his monocle. "Sad thing that the people in this world permit the youth to do this, but that is outside my control. What I can do is match his reality with his dreams."

"He's unable to defend himself."

"He have powerful guards who will make sure he come back alive." Grinning, the merchant shrugged. "If you failed then he got the fox as back up. Whatever animosity he feel to the blonde is hopeful less important than it drive to survive." From then air Silver summoned a blueberry muffin. "Well you give the boy the chance to learn?"

Shaking her head, Ivy place her hands into her pocket. "You're a cruel man."

"Hey, who can know joy without a little sorrow?" Silver munched on his treat. "Come to think of it, does Naruto have any money or supplies?"

"You capture Naruto while he was chasing after you."

"Oh ya." Clapping his hands, the merchant grinned. "Then we accomplished two things. Once Naruto finished the mission I'll pay him the amount he deserve. Now find Naruto. Raiga is already outside at the north end of the village. He's eager to create a few funerals."

Sighing, Ivy marched off. "I hope you know what you're doing." She found the blonde inside Silver's house. He pillaged from Fu's supplies of weapon and borrowed a pouch to the vertette dismay. Grabbing hold of the blonde, the demon carried him to the north end of the village.

Raiga sat on the ground. His blades sheathed on his back. He glanced to the duo with mild distaste. Naruto either overlooked or oblivious to it for he invaded the swordsman's private space.

"Naruto is ready for service. What should we do first?"

"First we need to get to the island." Standing, Raiga looked to the northeast. "Out of curiosity, how you learned how to walk up trees and water."

"I mastered it in class."

Nodding, Raiga glanced to the scrolls strapped to the blonde's hips. "And those?"

Naruto grinned as he took a scroll off his hip and summoned a bag. "Extra supplies. Don't want my first mission to screw up because I didn't bring the right items."

"You were able to learn that in a couple of weeks." Ivy kneeled down. "Impressive. Now, let get going. The island isn't too far from here."

"Shouldn't you hide yourself first?"

Grinning, the demon patted her arms. "People will learn about me eventually. Might as well do it somewhere that at least somewhat friendly." With that said the demon dashed off with the swordsman close behind.

"Wait up!" Naruto darted after them.

The small group traveled on dirt roads to a fishing village on the north shore. A group of fisherman paused form their work when Ivy and Raiga arrived. Nearly plowing into the demon, Naruto glanced about as if ready for an attack. One of the fisherman offered them a smile and a small motorboat down the shore.

After paying for the ride, the group drive the boat into open sea. Choppy waves slammed into the side of the boat. Cold sprays assaulted the duo. The adults ignored it. Ivy more concern with keeping her massive frame in while keeping the boat steady. Raiga, driving the ship, rolled his eyes as the blonde shivered.

"We'll be out here for at least an hour," said Raiga. "Hope you brought a thick cut."

"Can't we just run across the water?" asked Naruto.

"Can't." The demon grinned sheepishly. "At least, I can't. I'm unable to use chakra."

"Really." Naruto blinked. "Why?"

"My species as a whole are unable to do so. In exchange for skin of granite and super strength our chakra coils are shot. Once in a while one of my kind can use it, but that is an oddity."

Staring at the demon, Naruto hummed. "Hey Ivy, where the hell did you come from. As far as I'm aware you shouldn't exist."

"Not surprising. The shinobi world tend to stick to their own territory." Crossing her arms, she gestured her head to the east. "Across the ocean there is a continent where my kind and a whole host of other species live. We're aware that you guys exist, but until the Philosopher brought us over we were too afraid to come."

"Why?"

"Because we though some craze goddess was ruling an empire." Chuckling, the demon spread her arms out. "Honestly, that happened thousands of years ago, but people get an idea in there head and it can be difficult to get rid of it."

"As you can see there no goddess around." Naruto shook his head. "Just a bunch of villages and nations. I'm assuming that you got a home."

"It's called the Reigch Duchy. I worked in the Duke- think of him like one of your Daimyo- armies. After my time with them I hopped on over to the transporting business and protected goods. During one of my escort I met Silver."

Shaking her head, the demon chuckled. "With Teruim and some other woman he wonder up to us and just started singing. He then asked a group of sixteen people to join in."

"That's sound like him."

"We travel together for several days and just chatted. I wished I can say we do battle with some bandits, but the area I lived in was rather peaceful. That was some twenty years ago. He then return ten year later and asked if I would like to enjoy an experience of a lifetime."

"And he meant coming over here and teaching people how to use jutsu?"

Shaking her head, Ivy grinned. "In truth, he just wanted to explore a land nobody bothered from bothered to look at for centuries. For some odd reason he remembered that I used to be in the army and wanted someone strong to come along."

"Now we got a monster walking among us." Raiga rolled his eyes. "You still owe me money for our bet."

"Sorry, but the Philosopher kept on dragging me about. Once we complete this mission I'll give you your money."

The weather started to warm up. Choppy seas settled enough for the water to stop attacking the group. Leaning on the bow, the blonde stared at the island in front of him. Its black beaches supported by lush plants. When they rammed into the sand Naruto leapt into the water. He scrambled up the beach and pulled up a handful of sand.

"Cool!" Naruto started digging up more sand. "I never heard of a black beach before."

"That's because white beaches are more common." Dragging the boat up the shore, the demon placed it beside the blonde. "Now, our village is at the base of a volcano. We need to move in and secure the area."

"Is the volcano active?" Jumping onto a palm tree, the blonde stared at the small mountain in the distance.

"It's one of those volcanos that erupt often, but with little force." Ivy grabbed the tree and shook Naruto off of it. "Though that is of little importance. We'll follow a road nearby and be at the village soon enough."

Leaping onto his feet, the blonde saluted Ivy. "Understood." Just before he darted off Raiga stepped into his path.

"Listen up kid." The swordsman jabbed a finger into the blonde's shoulder. "While you may part of this group, you are no shinobi. Stay with us at all times. If we run into a group I want you to use henge and hide." An eerie smile crossed his face. "It would be terrible if we are force to have a funeral."

Naruto bolted behind Ivy. "Ivy." Peeking around her, he stared at the swordsman. "Something isn't right about that guy."

"He screwed up in the head, but Silver tamed him enough to be useful," said the demon. "I agree with him on the advice. Stay close and keep out of direct combat. You'll live along."

 _Please do stay alive,_ said the fox. _Even someone as incompetent as you are I seen you're running skills. How I wish you're a rabbit at times._

 _Shut up!_

Dashing down the dirt road, the group traveled through a dense jungle. Plants threatened to overcome the road. Thick tree branches appealed to the blond, but Ivy refused to use them. Something about her weight being able to snap the branches in to.

Naruto spotted smoke in the distance. Pulling front of the group, he sprinted the rest of the way. Foliage stayed thick as he neared the village. A gap in the trees reveled a few buildings.

"Hello!" Skidding to a stop, the blonde thrust a hand at his chest. "Uzumaki Naruto is here too…"

Word fell to the ground as he watched villagers finished with fighting a fire. The few structures intact were surrounded by smothering ash. Naruto glanced to the volcano, but it rested at the moment. Cries of children and moans of adults assaulted his ear.

Teeth clenched together as a force hit him in the head. Face first he slammed into the ground. Someone shouted, but he soon screamed in pain. The blonde glanced up to see the broken form of a woman.

"Dead." Strolling passed Naruto, Ivy waved a hand to the nearest village. "Though it appear that the shinobi left. Raiga. Peel Naruto off of the ground."

Heaving the blonde up by the collar, the swordsman shook his head. He carried him into the village. The thoughts of funerals on the top of his mind.

* * *

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	8. Chapter 8

Enjoy the read.

* * *

Chapter Eight

Dumping Naruto on the ground, Raiga grinned at the pyres in front of them. Large piles of wood stack together burned a couple dozen bodies. A wind helped to cover away the smell of flesh and hair, yet it still tickled one nose. Grimacing, the blond pinched his nose. His eyes widened upon seeing the people.

"Why are you burning them?" asked Naruto.

"To send their spirits to the skies." An older gentleman walked up to them. "Greetings. I take it that you're the Philosopher's people." He gave Ivy a wary gaze, though he did bow. "As you can see the bandits had attacked our village. We beg you to do something about it."

"No worries there." Stretching her limbs, Ivy grinned. "Just show us where they hang out and we'll take care of them."

"I'm afraid we know little. One day this group of shinobi attacked without warning. This the third time so far that they have raided us. We're uncertain to where they came from and their numbers." Scratching his head, the blond scanned the area. He spotted a kunai sticking out of a person's arm crushed by the house. Bile rose in his throat, but he reached over and yanked the knife from the arm.

"I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing you guys didn't use kunai."

The villager glanced to the weapon. "That one belongs to the bandits." He blinked when the blond sniffed it. Iron and fear assaulted the blond nose. Yet, after a moment of getting used to it, he identified a second scent drifting through the air. Far weaker, but it was there.

Standing, the blond pointed to the north. "One of the guys went in the direction of the volcano?"

"Oh?" Ivy kneeled down. "And you know this how?"

"I have a strong sense of smell." Sniffing Ivy, Naruto frowned. "You smell natural, but Raiga is wearing some kind of perfume."

"I bathed earlier today," stated the swordsman.

"And ate something with garlic and barbecue chicken this morning. Odd lunch."

Blinking, Raiga held his hand to his mouth and breathed into it.

"Hey kid." Ivy kneeled down. "It would have been nice if you told us that earlier."

Naruto huffed. "I'm a shinobi. We have a right to our secrets."

"I'm not saying that you don't have right to some secrets, but it's still nice to know some things." Standing, Ivy grinned. "Well then, let go find these rogues. Remember though, stay with-"

"He's already outside the village," said Raiga.

Blinking, Ivy glanced down the road to see Naruto fading back. "That kid has too much energy."

The two adults managed to catch up with the blond with ease. Heading up the volcano, the slope of the land gradually increased. Plant life followed until black rock halted their progress. Naruto landed beside a small boulder. In a crouch, he sniffed the earth.

"Eck!" The blond pinched his nose. "This rock stinks."

"I did say the volcano is active." Racking her knuckles on the rock, the demon hummed. "If we look around we could probably find some activity, though be careful of the lava."

Leaping off the rock, the blond got on all fours. "I can smell something here, but it difficult to find." He crawled along the rocks. "And the rocks are kind of hot here."

"Raiga!" shouted Ivy.

Naruto gasped as a hand grabbed him by the collar. 'I'm not a damned dog!' Yet as the thought passed, the ground under him started to crumple. He was several yards away from the explosion of lava. Fat, wet blobs got a couple feet before falling to the ground. The mere heat made it uncomfortable to be around them.

"They planted a mine underground." Letting go of Naruto, Raiga glared at the cooling manga. "Must have set them up to keep pesky people out."

"How did you detect that?" asked Naruto.

"Life experience and luck, kid." Kneeling down, Ivy patted Naruto on the shoulder. "Be a bit more careful. One hit from that magma and you're done for. Even with your special talent."

The startled blond stared at the demon, but she waved him on to continue. During the walk, he crossed smooth rock and crumpling earth. Several more times he set off a mine, but his teammates made sure he survived.

They came upon a pit in the ground. Hundreds of feet separated one side from the other. Leaping in, the blond scooped up a bit of dirt. He tossed it back down with a frown.

"Whoever it was disappeared right here."

"Meaning?" Ivy landed beside the blond.

"That the scent just disappears right here. If the guy had flown off, I would have smelled it on the wind."

"Well, there's only one other way to go." Ivy slammed a fist into the earth. The ground rose up in large chunks. The blond fell onto his back. Just as he got back up, the demon punched the earth again. Earth caved downward. Naruto leapt away as a hole tried to shallow him whole.

"Found a tunnel!"

Creeping toward the edge of the hole, Naruto peered in. The demon stood out of a pile of rocks. She brushed some dust off her shoulder as Naruto and Raiga jumped into the hole. Black, almost glassy rock formed a tubular tunnel.

Naruto sniffed and sneezed. The dust was still thick in the air. Leaping down, Raiga stared down the tunnel. "One way leads to the volcano," said the swordsman. "The other leads to our target. Am I right?"

Rubbing his nose, the blond nodded. "The dust is making it hard to smell, but that's about right." The demon crouched down to fit into the tunnel. "Well, if we run into anyone I can serve as the shield."

"Hey Ivy," said Naruto.

"Yes."

"How are we going to deal with these bandits?" Pocketing his hands, the blond stared at the roof. His voice echoed off the walls. "We talk and see if they surrender. If they do, we'll hand them over to the nearest shinobi outpost. If they refused we'll be forced to fight."

"Then we give them funerals." Cracking his fist, the swordsman grinned. "I wouldn't be surprise if that is how this end."

Putting on a wide smile, Naruto pumped his fist into the air. "We'll definitely beat those guys."

"Of course we will." The demon advanced. "Now, let get going. If I stay in this position for too long, I'm going to get cramps." For several miles the group walked. Whenever the tunnels grew too narrow Ivy's claws would tear through the rock. Naruto and Raiga threw the debris aside.

Popping upward, Ivy chuckled. "Found them." Once Ivy pulled herself out of the tunnel, the others followed. Naruto crouched down on a ledge. The jungle stopped near a rugged coast line. Grass claimed the sole ownership of the area. Sitting near the edge of a cliff, a dozen shinobi were gathered around two tied up figures.

"Look like they have taken prisoners." Drawing his blades, Raiga grimaced. "The Philosopher would skin us if we let them die."

"Most likely." Jamming her claws into the earth, Ivy licked her lips. "We need to draw their attention. Too bad the land is clear out. Can't approach without being seen."

"There's plenty of water nearby." Raiga brought his hands together. "Just need to create a fog and-"

"Hey assholes!" shouted a familiar voice. "Over here!"

The adults stared as Naruto, somehow getting several hundred feet from them in silence, mooned the rogues. A wide grinned fitted well on his face. Yanking up his pants, he sprinted away. Shouts came from the rogue shinobi and a couple of them chased after the blond.

"Idiot." Standing, the swordsman formed his seals. "Water Style: Hidden Mist Jutsu." A thick fog rolled in from the sea, forming a solid shroud. Ivy had difficulty making out her partner form the cloud. "I'll go fetch the blond. You go down there and whip out the enemy." Raiga faded into the mist.

* * *

 _Where the hell did this fog come from?_ Just as he thought of it, the blond dove to the right. A giant shuriken cut deep into the rock. Summoning a kunai to his hand, Naruto spun around and prepared to throw it. Pain shot through his right arm. His eyes widened as he stared at the kunai piercing through his upper arms.

"Who the hell are you?" asked the shinobi. He easily pulled away from Naruto's scaling knife. Stumbling back, the blond grabbed a scroll and yanked it open. Just as the shinobi came down on him he threw the scroll onto the ground. It exploded into fire.

Yelping, the rogue shinobi pulled away. As the fire subsided, he saw that the blond had disappeared. Frowning, he dashed past a moss covered stone.

When the rogue disappeared, Naruto undid the transformation. Grabbing his arm, he growled. Snickers echoed in his head.

 _I'll be able to heal it. What happened back there?_

 _I panicked._ Standing, Naruto slapped his face. 'Idiot! I'm supposed to be taking the guy out.' A strong surge of chakra drew his attention to his right.

"Water Style: Great Monsoon."

Mist congealed into water and pound onto Naruto's back. Flattened against the ground, the blond gritted his teeth. He brought his hands together and transformed. As the water blast subsided, a kunoichi appeared with a kunai in her hand. A frown formed on her face upon seeing her comrade on his knees.

"Damn this fog." The kunoichi swept her hands through the air. "This can't be natural with that damn kid showing up." The transformed Naruto held his silence, praying that the woman would fall for the transformation. Having only a glimpse of his attacker from earlier, he made someone of his built and size. The headband around his head was blank. Yet the woman just turned around with a hand on her hip. "Be on guard. That brat must have come with allies."

Grunting, Naruto drew a kunai. He drew a mental circle on the kunoichi's back. Iruka's lesson on the weak point of the human body flooded his mind. To get a quick and easy kill, one deep slice to the neck should do. From the front, he could cut the jugular, while from the back he just needed to sever the spinal cord.

Yet, the blond froze to the spot. Bile threatened to rise in his throat as Naruto thought back to the village and cursed himself. This woman helped destroyed it. She deserved nothing less than death.

 _Poor boy,_ cooed the Nine Tailed. _Is it difficult for you to draw blood of a murder? You'll have to become like her, if you want to be a shinobi._

 _Shut up!_

"Hey!" shouted the kunoichi. "Are you deaf or something? We need to get back to camp."

Naruto nodded. The kunoichi's eyes narrowed and he felt his heartbeat hitch. Yet, before either could move, lighting pierced the kunoichi's flesh. The stench of ozone and brunt flesh flooded the blond's nasal cavity.

Yelping, the kunoichi grasped her side while stumbling back. She turned around in time to see Raiga standing over her. Electricity pulsed from his swords as he jabbed them into the rogue's body. Her entire body clenched up, teeth gritting together as her eyes froze into place.

Raiga yanked his swords out and kicked the kunoichi off. On the ground, her muscles spasmed but her eyes lost their light. Quivering, Naruto fell on his butt. His body refused to stay still.

"That is how you kill a person." Sheathing his blades, the swordsman kneeled. "Is this your first time seeing someone's light disappear from their eyes?" The blond nodded dumbly. "If you keep going down the path of shinobi, you're going have to do this."

"Why?" The word slipped from the blond's mouth.

"Because that what the shinobi are." With a snap of his fingers, the mist dispersed. "When someone gets pissed off, we are sent out to deal with the problem." Naruto glanced over his shoulder to see another man convulsing on the ground. "Granted, there are times we might be able to pass off as noble. Like when we're defending our home, but in truth, we're as guilty of the same sin as those that are attacking."

"But these guys attack the village at random." Standing, the blond flexed his hands. "They had no right to."

"Why not ask them why?" Raiga pointed to Ivy. Sitting next to the hostages, Ivy cleaned blood off of her limbs. Two of the rogues were missing. A third tried to drag himself across the ground, both of his legs bent at odd angles.

Darting over to the man, Naruto kneeled in front of him. "Hey! What the hell do you think…" Words faded away as hot tears streamed down the Shinobi's face. "Get the hell out of my way!" Naruto stumbled back and watched the shinobi crawl by. "I'll kill those ungrateful bastards. I'll kill them."

"Why?" The blond voice was almost a whisper. "Why would you do that?"

"Because they killed my family!" Whirling around, the shinobi's eyes stabbed Naruto right through the soul. "The Civil War destroyed everything I loved. My family once lived in this village. Damn it, we protected this village when rebels attack us. You wanna know how they repaid us?" His fingers clawed into the earth. "They killed my family! Every last one of them. Only because my comrades helped a rebel who needed immediate medical care."

Flopping onto the dirt, the shinobi sobbed into the earth. "I wanted this village to burn, but even I could see that only a few people could not do it. That is why I took those two hostages. They knew something and I wanted to get it from them. Though it would seem it is pointless now. Just put me out of my misery."

Before Naruto could reply a sword stabbed right through the shinobi's neck and he went limp. Ripping his blade out, the swordsman used the man cloth to whip off his blade. The blond stared for a moment.

"So, who here is at fault?" asked Raiga. "The guy whose family got killed or the villagers who got slaughtered?"

"Our village defended itself!" exclaimed one of the hostages. "That man right there helped a rebel. If we didn't act…"

"Helping someone and being an ally with them is two different things." With a single claw the demon cut the rope. "Though it not our business to question it all. We're just here to do our job."

"And you have done it well." One of the hostages stormed over to the corpse. "Damn bastard." He kicked at it, but Naruto caught the leg. Blinking, the man looked at the blond.

"He's already dead," said the blond. "Spare him some dignity." Huffing, the villager pulled his leg away. "We need an escort back to the village."

"Of course." As she stood, the demon grabbed the two villagers. They yelped, but soon become silent upon being planted on her shoulders. "Let's run back and sent a message to the Philosopher. He should be with us soon enough."

That confused the blond, but he kept his silence. Once back to the village, Ivy informed them that the threat had been dealt with. A few cheers came from the group, but the solemn work of cleaning up kept it low. Though, it surprised them when Naruto and Ivy offered their help.

"Come on, Naruto." Ivy went over to a building and scooped up a large load. "Helping them out will be a good thing." With a nod the blond went to work. Taking out several scrolls, he let the villagers store debris into them. They marveled at how much one could fit into the scrolls. Though, there was no added weight to the scroll once it was sealed.

When the blond thought about it, he had to admit that it was rather magical in its own right. Once he had several scrolls filled with debris, Naruto marched over to the outskirts of the village. There he dumped the piles of wood as Raiga used his lighting sword to set it ablaze.

With the combined effort of villagers and shinobi, they cleared half of the village, though the question of food and water alarmed them. Most of the food supplies had been destroyed by the fire and the water had been poisoned to the extent that it had become undrinkable.

Naruto and his team stayed for the night in one of the villagers' homes. The children tried to converse with the blond, but he locked himself away in his room. Images of the woman and the man dying in front of him flashed to his mind. Curled up on his bed he stared at the wall.

 _Do you enjoy their death?_ asked the fox.

 _Of course not. It sicken me._

 _Then you must be having some sort of masochistic pleasure, at least._

 _No, I do not enjoy pain._

 _Unless the pain comes from being hit by a certain banshee._

 _I just can't stop thinking about it._ Rolling onto his back, Naruto placed a hand over his eyes. _I know that shinobi kill people. Seeing it is a whole different thing. Though, I doubt you understand._

The fox huffed. _Death of humans is of little concern to me. The only joy is that there's two less of them to worry about_.

 _How so?_

Yet the fox did not answer and left Naruto to his own thoughts.

Vibrations rocked his bones. Sitting up, Naruto scrambled over to the window, ready to jump out in little more than his underwear. He paused upon seeing the Philosopher cartwheeling through the streets. As he spun through the air he weaved some signs. Upon hitting the earth, two slabs of earth erupted from the ground and slammed together to form a tent.

"Come now!" Landing on his feet, Silver sling his arms out into the air. Confetti erupted from his arms. "What a terrible mess! These bandits have done a number." He gestured to a nearby building. "And I see a few wary souls. Troops let's put a little cheer into these people."

Naruto stared as people dressed in bright clothing darted forward. Baggy trousers and shirt swallowed the wearer completely. Grinning, the blond threw on his clothing. He darted outside and nearly crashed into Fu. His cheeks inflated to keep the laughter in. She wore a large white shirt, covered in smiley faces, tucked into her orange and green stripes pants. Orange and black paint made her face mimic that of a tiger. Green cat ears stuck out of her hair.

Holding her hands out like paws, the vedette hissed. "Laugh and I will claw your eyes out."

"Your father sure likes to draw attention." Facing Silver, Naruto crossed his hands. "How the hell did he keep anything a secret?"

"It helped that he gets on people's good side."

"Fu, what are you standing there for!" Silver waved a hand over to the wall. "These people need help to purify their water."

"Got anybody that can use the earth?"

"Of course I do. Just ask one of our helpers."

Naruto shook his head at the appearance. Compared to the death his team caused this was too cheerful. Darting over to Silver, the blond slapped him in the back. The merchant bopped him on the head.

"What is it boy?" The merchant shook his head. "I'm busy with getting your payment."

"I just want to ask if I can stay with you guys for a while." Scratching the back of his head, Naruto glanced to the ground. "There are things I need to learn and you're willing to teach."

"Oh." The merchant smiled. "Do you how something peculiar in mind?"

"How about stopping people without killing them?"

"Hmm." Tapping his chin, the merchant shrugged. "There are ways to do so and it is certainly possible. Thought that is more of a long term goal than anything else."

"Yet it is possible."

"Is that a challenge?" Spinning around, the merchant stared up at the skies. "Then again, to take someone down with little violence would be interesting indeed; hard, but certainly not impossible."

"So you'll keep on teaching me?"

Silver waved a hand. "I thought I was teaching you already, but if you help clean up this mess I may be able to help you." His grin thickened as the blond ran off. Everything appeared to be going as he had hoped.

* * *

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	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

Leaning against a wall, Gane watched the blond create his hundredth paralyze seal. He shook his head at the consecrate face. The ease he wrote each character startled him. They started all of three days ago and managed to learn complex writing that took most people a couple months to learn basics. Hell, it took him at least three months to write anything passable.

The dark elf glanced to the clock hanging on the wall. Three minutes until his class finished. Beside the Jinchūriki, four other people had joined him during this session. The group rather large this time aroun. Two or three people tended to have any interested in sealing.

"Alright class." Pushing off the wall, Gane grabbed his clothes off a hook. "That's enough for one day. Keep practicing outside of class. Like anything the more you do it the better you get."

"Yes sensei!" shouted the class.

Leaping to his feet, Naruto darted out the door. Gane leapt to the side to avoid the sunlight. With a shake of his head he threw on his clothes and followed.

Running up one of the snowy paths, the blond skipped to a stop into a wide open field. A group of people gathered. Cheers erupted from them as metal clashed together. Plowing through the crowd, Naruto reached a red line that cut through the field. His smile turned to confusion as Silver the merchant did battle with a bluenette.

With childish ease Silver weaved around the striking knife. His thrusting blade stopped short of the violette's throat. His wrist flicked and he cut a shallow mark into her shoulder. Stumbling back, the violette grabbed the wound.

"Master," said the young woman, "if you keep doing that my clothes will be ribbons."

"Then you should learn to be quicker on your feet." Darting around the young woman, Silver grabbed her by the shoulder. "You know why?"

"Because woman on average are weaker."

"In terms of pure muscle mass, that's correct." Silver squeezed his student's arms. "Yet, it matters little if a person can't hit you." With a grin Naruto lunged at the merchant. Ducking under the swipe, Silver jabbed the blond with an elbow. "See?"

Falling to the ground, Naruto clenched his stomach. "That hurts."

"That's sort of the point." Silver poked Naruto in the head. "What are you doing? I'm trying to teach a class here."

"I'm here because you promised to teach me a jutsu."

"When?"

"When we were back in that village cleaning it up. Come on Silver. Are you going crazy or something?"

"Oh yeah." Snapping his fingers, Silver bolted to his feet. "Hani. How would you like to join me and Naruto?" The merchant bowed to the other students. "As for the rest of you, find a sparring buddy and get to training. Remember, only hand to hand combat and keep the injuries to a minimal. This is a school not a hospital."

Naruto rubbed his stomach as he stood. Falling behind the merchant, he followed him across the field.

The violette joined the blond and grinned at him. "Hey, I'm Hani."

Grinning back, Naruto jabbed a finger at himself. "Uzumaki Naruto's the name. I think we meet somewhere before."

"We have?"

"Yeah." Staring at the violette's hair, Naruto snapped his finger. "You're that girl Silver got from th-" A whack to the head sent the blond onto the ground. Scrambling to his feet, Naruto glared at the merchant's cane. "What was that for?"

"Naruto, I had never met this young woman until she came to this village." Silver glanced to the blond with an odd smile. "I think you may mistaken by her face. No offense, my dear, but it's a rather common sight." Hani stuck her tongue out. "Now, as I promise Naruto I'll teach him a jutsu. You had showed progress as well dear Hani. Care to learn a little trick?"

"I would love to." Reaching into her pocket, Hani pulled out a small piece of rubber.

"What will we be learning?" asked Naruto. "Are we going to burn the air itself? Oh, I would love to get to place to place within seconds."

"Hell no!" Naruto shock his head. "I'd rather learn some powerful jutsu that can blow people away."

"I thought you wish to stop killing people." stated the merchant.

The blond pouted as he tuck his hands into his pockets. "I still need to learn something that will keep me alive."

"Alright then." Silver hands rapidly made signs. "Then how about being around, but without anyone being the wiser." The air absorbed the merchant. Leaping back, Naruto blinked in surprise. "And then strike when no one is the smarter."

A force slammed into the blonde's back. He tried to react, but something dug into the side of his stomach. Laughter filled the air. He tried to pull away, but the now visible merchant tickled away at his sides.

"That there is the chameleon jutsu." Pulling away, the merchant stretched his arms. "It works a bit like the transformation jutsu. A thin layer of chakra covers your body and bounced the light off you. Useful, but what are its downsides?"

"Hm." Sitting up, the blond scratched his heads. "I was too busy being tickle to notice anything."

"I'm afraid I saw nothing as well." said Hani.

"Then let me give another presentation." Once again Silver disappeared. Both of the students scanned the area. Naruto spotted the merchant darting off to his right. He started to shout out, but the merchant slowed down a bit and disappeared.

After half a minute of this, the violette snapped her fingers. "It only works when you're going slowly."

"Correct." Reappearing behind Hani, Silver patted her on the head. "Cookie for the young girl when we get back to camp."

"Disappearing?" Huffing, the blond crossed his arms. "You got to be kidding me."

"Well my boy, some things would be easier if people can't see you." A grin appeared on the merchant's face. "Imagine sneaking in from behind with that killer jutsu of yours."

"If you ever teach me it."

Shrugging, the merchant shook his head. "In good time, my boy. I, myself, am still working out on a few skill sets that I borrowed from the village. One of them is of extreme interest. Now, examine the hand signs I make and copy me." Both students copied the foreign signs.

"Um, Silver," said the blond, "I never seen these hand signs before."

"That's because they're from my homeland. Being separate from this land we had to develop our own way of molding chakra." Folding his arms behind his head, the merchant walked off. "I leave the rest of the work to you."

"Hey!"

"Sorry Naruto, but there is only so much I can show. Figure out by yourself and you'll become a better person."

Leaning over, the violette chuckled. "I think he just like being lazy. He'll sometime show me how to do a move and then force me to punch a tree for an hour." She shook her hand. "It hurts."

With a shake of his head Naruto started making signs. "So how long have you been here?"

"A couple weeks now. Not long enough to get anything important down, but I'm a fast learner." Finishing the hand signs, Hani looked to herself. "Am I invisible yet?"

"Nope. Me?"

The violette poked Naruto on the nose. "I think we'd be laughed out of the haunted houses."

For a moment the blond tensed up, but shook his head. "You know, there are tons of pranks we can pull off with this jutsu."

"Pranks?"

"Yeah, back home I used to pull them all the time."

Humming, the violette stared at her hands. "Can't say I've ever done anything like that. I spend most of my free time training animals."

"Really?"

"My parents own an exotic farm. Raised tigers, elephants, and other creatures like that for the daimyos and other rice people. They like to brag about having dangerous animals. To keep them from being torn apart I also trained them to act docile around humans."

"That sound cool!" Working on his hands signs, the blond frowned. "Then why leave to come here?"

"Because it would be nice to have some skills to protect myself from the animals. They're still wild animals who can easily kill me."

"Good point." Frowning, the blond cross his hands. "How many ways are there to use jutsu to improve your life?"

"It would help get around faster."

"True."

"I once heard of someone who could create an entire forest. It would be nice if we could apply that to crops and make them grow faster."

"More pasta to make ramen. That would be nice."

"I was thinking more along the lines of making food cheaper and easier to get."

"That's good too."

While they chatted they worked on their jutsu. Sitting high in the trees, Fu watched the pair with keen interest. Taking a notebook out of her pocket, she jotted down notes.

* * *

Anko had an itch on her nose, but refused to scratch it. For less than any other reason, to keep Silver from scratching it for her. The merchant appeared one morning sitting in the corner of the room before she woke up. She would have impaled the man if she had any weapons on herself. After much shouting on her part, Silver shrugged Anko off and grinned.

"I found an interesting subject and plan on getting to know her." Silver stated that with such a sincere grin Anko shivered. In the past, a teacher held interest in her once. It ended with her left bound and bloodied in an abandoned building.

Yet the merchant has done little more than provide a companion. Kattā and another woman also came along, but Silver showed up more often than she wished he would.

Sipping on a cup of hot chocolate, the merchant sat across from her. A table that Kattā brought in sat between them. Silver set his mug down and picked up Anko's. Leaning forward, he offered a kind smile.

"Drink up my dear!" Silver pressed the mug up to the kunoichi. "Dehydration is a terrible way to go." A glare just made him grin all the more. "Come on. I know you want to drink."

 _How can he keep a straight face when he's practically feeding me?'_ The snake mistress thought.

"You're hands are still broken." Silver held the cup up to her lips. "Unless you want me to superglue this to you, there's no other way of doing this."

Anko knew this, but venom still slipped into her expression. Parting her lips, she let the liquid slip into her throat. With great care the merchant tipped the cup.

"So how's your reading, of late?" asked the merchant. "Plenty of books lying about and I think they're good. Then again, Kattā thinks my selection of reading is a bit odd."

With a wave of her hand Anko order the drink to be pulled away. "One book you give me is about military tactics while the other is about a blob joining forces with a spider to scam a company boss out of his money." Finally, the itch of her nose became too much and she tried to rub it. Silver started to move, but her stare held him in place. "I can get it. I'm not completely helpless."

"Oh! Everyone needs some help. If a person's ever said that they don't need help, that person is a liar."

"So where does that put me at the moment, Silver?" Anko spread her arms out. "As much as I'm enjoying the vacation I have no plans on staying here. The Philosopher can't keep me in here forever."

"He has a little plan too. He just wants you to be a little more trusting."

"How so?"

Glancing about, the merchant shook his head. "I really shouldn't say. He gets upset with me when I speak." A grin formed. "Yet though, I doubt if I speak a little he'll care much." With a mouth over his hand the merchant leaned in. "Word has it that the Philosopher is looking for a good reference."

"Reference?"

"For his school. Think about it for a bit. Your society is built off of one class of warriors doing a majority in the war. All he wants to do is teach the common folk how to use chakra."

"Why teach them Ninjutsu? Does he want war?"

"Certainly not, though he might get it if he isn't careful. No, his long term goal is to give everyone an improved life by allowing them the chance to use chakra. To make any fighting force would take years of training, but a common man may want to learn a few things."

"And you think by treating me well that I'll believe you?"

"No." Leaning back, the merchant placed an arm on the table. "But if you were wanted dead, then you would be already."

"And my companions?"

"Tragic things happen in life." Pushing off the table, the merchant shrugged. "No offense my dear, but you're shinobi. You should know that each mission may be your last."

"I'm perfectly aware."

"Then do you feel guilty for their deaths?"

Sighing, Anko rubbed the back of her head. "I'm pissed to say the least. They shouldn't be dead. The Philosopher and his minions killed them off."

"Friends of yours?"

"Compared to the rest of the village forces, there's a small number of Jōnin. If you're not close to them then you at least know something about them. One of them left behind a couple of kids. The other just started his Jōnin career."

"Should I be sad or happy for them?" That earned Silver an odd stare. "I mean, yes it's sad that they die, but isn't dying for their homes one of the greatest honors?" Flopping onto his back, the merchant closed his eyes. "Or is it the sad that no matter how great their sacrifice for the village, it may be their more useful alive than dead. For once a person has died, they're truly useless."

Leaning across the table, Anko's hand aimed for Silver's cheek. It caught and he toppled over. A loud crack echoed. Blinking, the merchant reached for his hat and monocle to find them gone.

Silver clicked his tongue. "Good grief. I never meant to say that their deaths were meaningless." He felt for the string connecting his monocle to his coat's front pocket. "Only that they could probably do more still alive than just lying in a grave."

Pulling her hand up to her face, Anko watched a bit of red stained her bandages. "They died while trying to retrieve one of our people. They shouldn't be ashamed."

"Did they consider Naruto one of their own?" Sitting up, the merchant grabbed his hat off the floor. "I noticed the way people stare at the boy back there."

"Hey Silver. May I ask you a question?"

"Shoot?"

"How dumb do you think I am, Philosopher?"

Sticking his tongue out, the merchant grinned. "I was kind of hoping you forgot what I looked like."

Anko rolled her eyes. "You were in the village when the theft happened. Height and build are about the same. And you certainly act like him." She pointed to the cane on his back. "Hell, you didn't even bother to cover your eyes. Seriously, do you even try to disguise yourself?"

Shrugging, the merchant sat up. "It works around people who have no idea of who I am. I'm surprised you managed to learn so much from that battle."

"Look, I have no idea what craziness you have planned, but the moment I'm able to leave-"

"You'll leave eventually. I just have a request for you."

"Oh?"

"Care to be the guest of the Philosopher for a bit longer? I'd like give you a tour of the place."

Anko pinched herself in the cheek. "Is this some kind of joke?" Drawing blood, she shook her head. "Didn't you guys attack and kill my squad to keep us from seeing it?"

Scratching the back of his head, the merchant sighed. "Well, the thing is that shinobi will find us soon enough. Your team was just one of the few who came close by." Silver chuckled. "No, I'm not asking you to become a double agent. Nor do I want you to forgive me or my cohorts. What I want is an unbiased look of my school."

"You're insane."

"And I'm offering you a free pass to get out of here without a fight. I may be stupid to do this, but you'd be an idiot to refuse."

"All I have to do is take a look at your school?"

"That's all."

Sighing, Anko stared up at the roof. "Either you're a better actor than I thought or I'm an idiot. Fine. When do we do this tour?"

"Splendid." Leaping to his feet, the merchant clapped his hands. "I'll go and set things up. I can't just let you wander about as you please. I'm just a simple merchant. The Philosopher's the one who has control over this circus."

Summoning a whistle to hand, the merchant blew on it. Anko shook a little as the sound pierced through her ears. Once the merchant disappeared she leaned on the table. A faint smile on her lips.

"Is he an idiot or insane? There's got to be a reason behind his madness."

* * *

Putting on his mask, Silver grinned at his own reflection. "My, my, aren't I a handsome fellow. Too bad I need to cover my face."

"Silver." Gane leaned on the desk. With a flick of his wrist he threw a knife with a tug tied to it at the post. "Can we hurry up with this letter?" Picking up the pen, he posed it over a piece of paper. "It's bad enough that you're taking up my free time to write this."

Come now, you've got the gift of calligraphy. It's as if the Creator's spoken words slipped onto the sheet."

"Thanks for the complement, but you're the guy who has the honey words. Now, who are we sending this to again?"

"The Daimyo of the Grass. My people are in need of real life training and the region around here is becoming a bit risky." Clearing his throat, Silver placed a hand on his chest. "Dear Grass Daimyo, I humbly request that I send people to work with your shinobi. They have trained long and hard to be able to take on some less seasoned shinobi. It will cost only a small fee to feed and house them. I also ask that any work they do they retrieve a portion of the money."

"Even for a friend this may be asking much."

"Oh, he'll do it." Fitting his hat on, the merchant grinned at himself. "That man owes me his life. Now, the only question now is what quest we may get."

Throwing on his clothing, the dark elf nodded. "Damn these lands and its odd use of technology. If we could just send this by telegram or by radios."

"These people are as secrete of their tech as they are their jutsu. Do you honestly think they would allow any improvement on a board scale?"

"Not without strangling one another." Placing the note into his pocket, the dark elf marched to the door. "Hope you have an idea who to send out." A growl drew his attention to the corner of the room. Resting in the shadows, Teruim's toothy grin gleamed. "Oh no."

"Ignore him and mail the letter." Silver leaned back in his chair. "On the double."

With a shake of his head Gane darted into town. The bird keeper bowed to him as he retrieved the message. A falcon carried the message north. Swift wings fast enough to spark the fuse for a bomb.


	10. Chapter 10

To anyone still reading this thank you for doing so. Enjoy the read.

* * *

Chapter Ten

The Philosopher stared as Naruto and Hani turned translucent. Any ignorant passerby would mistake them as ghost. Leaning against a tree, Fu read her book. Yet a smile formed behind the pages. Silver took out his pocket watch to check the days.

"It's only had been three days, yet those two are already halfway there." Shaking his head, the merchant crossed his arms. "Fu, how long have they been at it?"

"Hani tries to keep up with Naruto, but of course she has far less chakra." The green haired girl bookmarked her page. "Yet she had better chakra control than him. Hell, I think most people have better control than that kid. The difference being that he's willing to work on the jutsu until he drops."

Putting her book away, Fu stared down at the duo. Hina had finally realized what she looked like. She whirled around Naruto and started making booing sounds. Screaming, Naruto darted away. Of course, Hani followed and the jutsu broke. Fu clamped her hand over her mouth. Chuckles threatened to leak out.

"Though they spent half their time messing around. I had to drop in and force them to take a break."

"Impressive." Folding his arms, the merchant hummed. "If they can master that within a week than maybe we can..."

"Meaning?"

"I just received word from the Grass Daimyo. He granted us permission to do joint operations with the Village Hidden in the Grass."

"Oh." Holding out a hand, Fu allowed a butterfly to land on it. "Can I go? I need to get out of this damn cold."

"If you want you can, but you'll need a squad."

"I know that. How many groups are going?"

"Two. One experienced group and a less experienced one."

Kneeling down, the merchant grinned as Hani tickled Naruto into submission. "How would you like to take those two? As one of the more seasoned fighters you can keep them safe."

"As long as they don't step on any of my bugs I'm alright with that."

"Good." Leaping to the ground, the merchant pocketed his hands. "I need to get going. I've got a tour to give."

Silver walked back to the village and stopped in front of a box building. Green walls were colored with cartoonish and childish drawings. People were sitting at the top. A few of them saluted the merchant as he approached.

"Good evening sir. Our guest is relaxing at the moment."

"That's wonderful news." The merchant leapt onto the roof. "But I'm afraid I need to disturb her. Open the block." A pair of men grabbed the heavy slab and slid it to the side. Dropping into the hole, Silver landed in a crouch. He grinned at the snake mistress laying on the floor. With one of her bounded hands she flipped through the pages.

"Need something?" Anko's eyes stayed on the book.

"Care to go on that tour?"

Snapping the book shut, Anko darted pass Silver and jumped through the hole. A series of shots followed. Shaking his head, the merchant got onto the roof. He found Kattā holding Anko in place with one of his two swords.

Kattā pulled away and bowed to the merchant. "Forgive me sir. The guest startled us." Touching his swords to his wrist, they vanished in a puff of smoke. "Though I did little damage."

"That's plain to see." Silver waved Anko over. "Come over here. This is as good as any place to show you the area. This here is Dono. The village which is sponsoring my school."

"By free will?"

"Of course." The merchant placed a hand on his chest, while sweeping his other in a wide arch. "I proud myself in allowing people to make their own choices. So, where should we begin? Would you like to see the village itself or portions of the school?"

"Is there anywhere off limits?"

"Homes, my office, private territory, and other things like that." The merchant flicked his hand to the nearby mountains. "Yet my school is open to all."

"Alright then." Anko leapt down and Silver followed. "Show me where you train your army."

"Students." Taking the lead, the merchant wagged a finger. "They study peaceful way to use their powers."

When they left camp by themselves Anko glanced about with a paranoid expression. Smiling, the merchant shook his head. He would tell her that they were like a pair of lovers, lost in their own worlds at the moment. Yet her shinobi trained mind expected guards. He'll let her thoughts keep her in line.

The two went all over the school. Training grounds received harsh criticism against peaceful used. Yet Silver defended by pointing out that any jutsu can be dangerous. Wide open fields in isolated places protected people. Anko ordered dangos in the dojo and watched Ivy be used as a punching bag. It displeased her the demon napped through hundreds of punches and kicks.

As the duo approached a playground Anko blinked in confusion. "You have a playground?"

"We have parents who need a place for children to play." Silver marched over to a group of children playing a ball game. One of the youth threw it to him and the merchant flipped into the air to catch it. While upside down, he threw the ball back and landed on his hands. His hat flopped to the ground. "The kiddies need somewhere to burn off energy."

The child that Silver threw the ball to kicked it into his face. Anko laughed as the merchant toppled over. As if through telepathy, all the children lounged onto Silver and tried to bury him.

Silver roared with laughter as he struggled to his feet. "Careful there. Ramanu, you know you're a fragile boy." A boy with red eyes laughed.

"Come on Philosopher. You don't play with us enough."

"That's because I'm busy with keeping this madness in place. Now get off me! I have a guest."

"The pretty lady?" asked a young girl.

"That's right brat." Patting the kid on the head, Anko grinned. "This good for nothing man is showing me the place."

"The Philosopher is a good man!" Shouted one of the older children. "He's protecting the village from all the bad guys!" Shouts of agreement went through the crowd.

Blinking, Anko crossed his arms. "Oh?"

"Thanks for the kind words." Standing, the merchant pulled a large group of kids together. "Though let's give Anko some leverage. I did something mean to her."

"Did you say you're sorry?" Asked a girl.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but is something that we adults have to deal with. Now run along. I will not have lazy kiddies around her."

The children laughed as they ran off. Pocketing his hands, Silver hummed a tune while walking. His guest glanced at the children. A questioning frown stuck in place.

"What did that child mean by keeping this village safe?"

"Part of the deal of settling in this place is that I protect it." The merchant sighed as he bowed his head. "You are aware of the civil war that took place here." That earned a nod. "Well, before I came to this region rebels and bandits loved to hide here. Problem being that the two refused to separate the other out."

"When I got here my first order of business was cleaning the house." Silver gave a sad smile. "I tried convincing some of them to abandon their ways or cause. A few did and joined my school. The rest laughed in my face and tried to attack me."

"You drove them out?"

"Oh no, I wasn't going force another section of the world to house those scandals. I simply attacked their bases. Those who surrendered, I gave a second chance. Everyone else…I and my people slaughtered. Waste of life and time for everyone to involve."

"You did what was right." Anko gestured to the children. "You made their lives better."

"While making someone else's worse." They came upon a small, rectangular stone. A single rose curved into it front. Sitting on top, a statue of an angel and a child holding hands. "Overall, their life improved. I see that. I just pray that the deaths it brought won't affect others too much."

"You're not much of a soldier." stated Anko.

"Of course not!" The man scooped up a snowball and threw it at Anko's chest. "I'm the Philosopher and a merchant in my free time. What use do we have for war?"

Growling, Anko scooped up a bit of snow in hand. As she stood, Silver had already ran a far distance. With a grin she tossed the ball. It splattered against the back of the merchant's head. Silver shouted something about cheaters and threw back another snowball. Within moments the two dissolved into a snowball fight.

With little time to make a fort the fighters used the trees for carry. Anko's bounded hands made the process slower, but Silver slow production canceled out his fast throw. For a good fifteen minutes the pair assault one another. May it be on the ground, in the air, or sticking to the side of a tree.

Brushing snow off her shoulder, Anko kneeled down to make another snowball. She paused when a sudden thought struck her over the head. Why the hell was she playing like this? She was free. If she ran now there's a chance she could get out of here.

Yet the snake mistress felt little need to run. So far Silver kept to his word. She bit the inside of her cheek as she scanned the area. Yet this entire place is a danger. How many people has he already taught? Sleeper cells can be everywhere.

A snow ball slammed into Anko's cheek. Placing a hand on her face, she glanced to the merchant. At some point during their fight the merchant had slipped off his mask. Bent over he laughed a joyous sound. His hand slapping his knee.

"Come now, Anko!" exclaimed the merchant. "You're doing your countrymen a disservice."

Grinning, the snake mistress whipped around and caught the merchant on the chest. "You're dead!" With a roar she charged forward. She scooped up snow in bought hands and tossed at the merchant's face. He dodged with ease, but Anko plowed him into his stomach.

They fell to the ground. Anko pressed down his arms and placed her knees on top of his legs. Yet as she did this Silver just smiled. If fear lingered in those eyes they were overwhelmed by childish glee.

'I-I could kill him right now and be out of here in no time.' Anko thought.

"So much for the great Philosopher." The snake mistress sucked up some spit. "I took you down with ease."

"True, but do you plan to kiss." Licking his lips, the merchant puckered up. He recoiled back when a thick drop of saliva fell out of her mouth. "Hey now! That sort of behavior is uncalled for!"

Slurping up the spit, Anko stood. "Where's Naruto?" She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "I would like to see him."

Silver sat up. "My best guess is he working on a jutsu I'm taught him?"

"You're teaching him?"

Throwing his arms out, the merchant shook his head. "It's a school."

"The most generous one I've ever heard of."

"Let me show you." Standing, the merchant brushed snow off himself. "He's either doing that or Fu had forced him to take a break."

"Who?"

"My daughter."

"Married?"

"I adopted her from the Waterfall Village. When the conditions are better, you should meet her. She's a good girl, but lacking a bit in passion."

Putting his mask back on, the merchant marched off. "Shall we see the boy?"

Naruto happened to be taking a break. After asking around, the duo found the blond hanging out in the village. With a group of villagers and students Naruto chatted away with the group. His arms move around in animated moment. A wide grin graced his face. He enjoyed ever good nature jest, laughter, jokes, and conversation he had. Staring at the blond, Anko sniffed. A hum came from the merchant and he received an elbow in the stomach.

"Care to talk to the boy?" asked Silver.

"Sure. But I'd kind of hate to interrupt." Kneeling down, Anko scooped up a fat snowball and chucked it at the blonde's head. "Hey brat! What the hell you think you're doing disappearing like that!?"

At first Naruto was ready to lash his tongue. Yet one look at Anko and he plowed into the woman. Gibberish flowed from this mouth. His grip around the woman would've startled one of her snake summonings.

"Careful there!" Anko rolled her eyes. "My hands are broken I don't need another reason to smack you upside the head." Offering a silly grin, Naruto pulled away.

"My bad."

"What are you doing here?" The blonde jabbed a finger at the merchant.

"This guy dragged me here."

"After I gave him the choice of running back home." Shaking his head, the merchant shrugged. "Honestly, it's his own stupidity the reason he's stuck here."

"I can believe that." said Anko.

"Hey!" shouted the blond.

Slamming an elbow onto his forehead, Anko snorted. "If what the Philosopher said is true, then you got no one but yourself to blame."

"What about you?" Naruto grabbed Anko's hands. "What happened to you?"

"Had a terrible accident coming here." The snake mistress shot the merchant's a smirk. "My squad and I were looking for you. But a rouge band of shinobi attacked us. I got away, but as you can see I was wounded. The Philosopher found me out in the nearby woods and brought me here to heal."

"Thanks Philosopher." The blond tackled the merchant and gave him a wide smile. "Can I show Anko what I've learned so far?"

"Later." The merchant pushed the blonde off him. "You best get along. My daughter looks ready to strangle you." Nodding, Naruto darted back to his friends and the group marched off. Silver's curious smile turned to a curious grin. "Aren't you generous?"

"I'm not fully convinced about your operations." Pocketing her hands, Anko scanned the area. "And I doubt you're showing me everything. Yet you've been straight with me. Allow me to live outside that jail cell. I like to see stuff by myself."

"Understandable." Silver gestured to a building. "There is an inn over there. Just tell the innkeeper that I'm paying and you should be good."

"I'll stay until my hands are healed."

"Good to hear." Silver reached into his pockets. "Need any money?"

"I should have some with the stuff you took. Speaking of which, I want them back." Anko gestured to her body. "And who the hell disrobed me!? My hands were the only thing broken."

"I made sure that only females disrobe you. I had to make sure nothing else was damaged. As for your stuff, I'll return everything but the weapons. I hope that goes without saying. Now, can we finish our tour?"

Nodding, Anko followed the merchant around the camp. Uncertain of the man's motive, but interested in controlling it.

* * *

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